The Mysterious Island

Mysterious Island is the third book in a trilogy by Verne (the 1st being In Search of the Castaways and the 2nd the famous 20000 Leagues Under the Sea). I think it's by far the best of the three - it's one of my favourites of Verne and makes the other 2 look completely superficial. It was one of my favourites as a child but now I really want to read it as an adult as I think it will be even better. A bunch of people fighting on the side of the abolisionists in the US Civil War escape a siege on a hot air balloon. They're blown off course and are shipwrecked on a deserted island on the Pacific. However, Verne takes an optimistic approach to the story (of course it helps that the 5 or so people are all quite good at one thing or another). Over the period of their stay, they "conquer" the island as they build what is literally a civilisation with their bare hands. What follows is a story of redemption, struggle and the amazing parts of the human spirit (ones most people never get to see outside of extreme circumstances), as well as the heroes' hunt for the secret of the island. It is a pleasure to publish this new, high quality, and affordable edition of this timeless story.