Verne J.: Around the World in 80 Days. Five Weeks in a Balloon

JULES VERNE (1828-1905) POSSESSED that rare storytellers gift of being able to present the far-fetched and the downright unbelievable in such a way as effortlessly to inspire his readers allegiance and trust. This volume contains two of his best-loved yarns, chosen from among the sixty-four titles of Les Voyages Extraordinaires, Vernes pioneering contribution to the canon of modern science fiction.

Around the World in Eighty Days (1873) relates the hair-raising journey made as a wager by the Victorian gentleman Phileas Fogg, who succeeds - but only just! - in circling the globe within eighty days. The dour Foggs obsession with his timetable is complemented by the dynamism and versatility of his French manservant, Passepartout, whose talent for getting into scrapes brings colour and suspense to the race against time.

Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863) was Vernes first novel. It documents an apocryphal jaunt across the continent of Africa in a hydrogen balloon designed by the omniscient, imperturbable and ever capable Dr Fergusson, the prototype of the Vernian adventurer.