Jules Verne

Biography

Born in Nantes in 1828 and writing his way into legend until 1905, Jules Gabriel Verne spun globe-circling, time-bending daydreams that became the backbone of modern science fiction. His sprawling saga *Voyages Extraordinaires*—a shelf-bending collection of more than sixty tales—plunged readers down volcanic tunnels in *Journey to the Center of the Earth*, raced them across continents and oceans in *Around the World in 80 Days*, launched them 20,000 leagues beneath the waves aboard the *Nautilus*, and marooned them on *The Mysterious Island* with only ingenuity for shelter. Hollywood and filmmakers worldwide have revisited these adventures again and again, proof that Verne’s imagination travels faster than any reel can spin. Ranking just behind Agatha Christie in global translations, he remains the planet’s most frequently re-read French storyteller—and the benchmark for every dreamer who still believes the universe fits between two covers.