Around the World in Eighty Days

Description

'A classy edition of a story with enduring appeal. Made me want to go round the world again.' - Michael Palin Around the World in Eighty Days is an evocation of an era when all travel was an adventure - and Jules Verne's tale of a race against the clock has never lost its power to thrill. Set in 1872, Mr Phileas Fogg, a gentleman of precision and predictability, and his manservant, the ever resourceful Passepartout, ride through India on an elephant, sail the South China Sea in the teeth of a typhoon and cross the snow-covered plains of the American Wild West in order to fulfil a wager that the journey can be completed in just eighty days. The acrobatic and inquisitive Passepartout can seldom keep out of trouble. While he is pursued by irate Indian priests, drugged in an opium den, and saving a runaway train, his master's composure is never broken as the hours tick away on his precisely accurate pocket watch. But Phileas Fogg is above all a gentleman, and stopping to save the life of a beautiful young widow may have cost him his fortune. The ill-assorted but determined trio have to use all of their ingenuity and some remarkable vehicles to race back to London to win the wager. Will they make it in time? Robert Ingpen's rich and detailed illustrations perfectly capture the exciting journey.

Jules Verne (1828-1905) was born in Nantes, France. He was a prolific writer of adventure stories whose aim was 'to spread knowledge'. Writing in an era when travel was taking on a whole new course, the themes of time and exploration of foreign climes are often revisited in his work. Many of his over seventy books and plays have been made into movies and perhaps the best-loved isAround the World in Eighty Days.Robert Ingpen was born in 1936 in Geelong, Australia. He studied illustration art and book design at The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. In 1986 he was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for his contribution to children's literature and has been honoured with Membership of the Order of Australia. A world-renowned artist and author, he has designed, illustrated and written over 100 books. This series of classic works illustrated by Robert includesTreasure Island,Peter Pan andWendy,The Jungle Book,The Wind in the Willows andA Christmas Carol. Robert lives and works in Anglesea, near his home town of Geelong.