Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas

Book summary

In 1866 an unexplained sea monster alarms the navies of the world; in July 1867 Professor Aronnax sails to hunt it down. A collision with the monster throws him overboard along with a Canadian harpooner, and his servant jumps in after him: all three are taken aboard the Nautilus, a submarine under Captain Nemo. Guests and prisoners of a man who has broken with dry land, they travel the oceans of the globe with him. The novel explores science, the freedom of a man beyond the laws of any country, and an underwater world still unknown. Verne combines a naturalist's inventory with an adventure narrative, paced by landfalls and storms.