by Jules Verne

Born in the seaport town of Nantes, France, Jules Verne reached his thirties before settling into the life of a science fiction writer, the occupation of his choice. He had begun writing in his teens, creating unremarkable plays, articles, and stories. His father groomed him to become a lawyer but regularly read the latest science news to his five children. Meanwhile, his mother showed her fast-paced imagination, which Verne later compared to his own. In his early teens, he ran away and worked for a day on a sailing vessel before his father fetched him home. The fact that young Verne took refuge at sea reflected his deep love for the watery depths, and his interest in the ocean later resurfaced in Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, a remarkably prophetic novel. Added to this...