Jules Verne

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: an Underwater Tour of the World Jules Verne

Publisher Marketing: THE YEAR 1866 was marked by a bizarre development, an unexplained and downright inexplicable phenomenon that surely no one has forgotten. Without getting into those rumors that upset civilians in the seaports and deranged the public mind even far inland, it must be said that professional seamen were especially alarmed. Traders, shipowners, captains of vessels, skippers, and master mariners from Europe and America, naval officers from every country, and at their heels the various national governments on these two continents, were all extremely disturbed by the business. In essence, over a period of time several ships had encountered "an enormous thing" at sea, a long spindle-shaped object, sometimes giving off a phosphorescent glow, infinitely bigger and faster than any whale. The relevant data on this apparition, as recorded in various logbooks, agreed pretty closely as to the structure of the object or creature in question, its unprecedented speed of movement, its startling locomotive power, and the unique vitality with which it seemed to be gifted. If it was a cetacean, it exceeded in bulk any whale previously classified by science. No naturalist, neither Cuvier nor Lacepede, neither Professor Dumeril nor Professor de Quatrefages, would have accepted the existence of such a monster sight unseen-specifically, unseen by their own scientific eyes. Review Citations: Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2011 pg. 1078 (EAN 9780199539277, Paperback) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 951 (EAN 9780192828392, Paperback) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 952 (EAN 9780192828392, Paperback) Wilson Children's Catalog 96 01/01/1996 pg. 601 (EAN 9780870216787, Paperback) Wilson Children's Catalog 96 01/01/1996 pg. 601 (EAN 9780140367218, Paperback) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/1991 pg. 569 (EAN 9780553212525, Mass Market Paperbound) Contributor Bio:  Verne, Jules French author Jules Verne (1828-1905) was the grand master of science fiction, publishing such notable works as "Around the World in Eighty Days", "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", and "The Mysterious Island", as well as many historical fiction adventures.