Around the World in Eighty Days

Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days (originally published in French in 1872) is a masterful, fast-paced adventure epic that captures the boundless optimism, burgeoning globalism, and technological triumphs of the late Victorian era. The narrative centers on the unflappable, hyper-methodical English gentleman Phileas Fogg, who enters into a colossal £20,000 wager at London's Reform Club asserting that he can circumnavigate the globe in a mere eighty days. Accompanied by his fiercely loyal, acrobatic French valet Jean Passepartout, Fogg races against the clock across continents, utilizing every state-of-the-art and rudimentary transportation network of the 1870s—from freshly laid transcontinental railways and steamships to a makeshift elephant trek through the Indian jungle. The linear journey shifts from a rigid mathematical exercise into a high-stakes thriller as Fogg is relentlessly pursued by Detective Fix, a bumbling inspector convinced that Fogg is a fleeing bank robber, while also pausing to rescue Aouda, a beautiful Parsi princess who permanently alters Fogg's cold outlook on life. Beneath its breathless momentum, the novel explores themes of imperial efficiency, human mastery over time, and the profound realization that the greatest prize of a global journey is ultimately found in companionship rather than geographic conquest.

The author, Jules Verne (1828–1905), drafted this definitive travelogue during a period of agonizing personal upheaval, transforming his private anxieties into his most commercially successful work.Writing amidst the chaotic fallout of the Franco-Prussian War—during which he was conscripted into the coast guard and suffered severe financial strain—Verne became deeply fascinated by how contemporary technological breakthroughs were effectively shrinking the physical world. Specifically inspired by the synchronized openings of the Suez Canal, India’s unified railway network, and America’s transcontinental railroad, he designed the book to reflect a new, modern reality: the birth of global tourism. As the undisputed crown jewel of his celebrated Voyages extraordinaires series, the book fundamentally reshaped Verne’s career, breaking past his previous reputation for dense, speculative science fiction to secure his status as a legendary mainstream storyteller. His uncanny ability to weave meticulous logistical facts with high-fidelity cultural observation transformed him into an international literary celebrity, cementing his position as one of the most translated authors in human history. 

Description 

Rust cloth binding with stamped decorations in black. Gilt lettering and label to upper board and to spine. Softening to head and foot of spine with some sunfading to spine. Girl top and fore edge. Pencil mark along hinge of pg. 33. Hinge loose. Good condition.