The eccentric Phileas Fogg, a distinguished but sedentary member of London’s Reform Club, takes up a wager that he can circle the globe in just eighty days—an amazing feat in the 1870s. What follows is a lively narrative recounting the journey by Fogg and his valet, Passepartout, as they overcome obstacle after obstacle to win the wager with Fogg’s fellow club members. The pair undertakes a fantastic world tour crossing three continents and two oceans and utilizing every means of transportation available in the 1870s: trains, steamers, an elephant, and a sail-sledge. All the while, they are pursued by a private detective named Fix, who believes Fogg to be a bank robber. Assorted companions join the party, including a damsel in distress named Aouda, whom Fogg rescues in India. After traveling through Paris, Egypt, India, Japan, America, Ireland, and more, Phileas Fogg finally arrives back in London—having just by the remotest chance met the deadline, convinced Fix of his innocence, and collected the payment. And money isn’t the only prize he’s won. This is a marvelous travelogue mixed with dazzling suspense, delightful fantasy, and lively comedy where frustrating delays and death-defying exploits abound. "It's the views of old ships and trains, of costumed natives, and distant ports of call--from Port Said to San Francisco--that evoke the tale's panorama of the exotic." -- "Kirkus Reviews" "Jules Verne's masterpiece...stimulated our childhood and taught us more than all the atlases: the taste of adventure and the love of travel. 'Thirty thousand banknotes for you, Captain, if we reach Liverpool within the hour.' This cry of Phileas Fogg's remains for me the call of the sea." -- "Jean Cocteau, artist, poet, and playwright" "The reason Verne is still read by millions today is simply that he was one of the best storytellers who ever lived." -- "Arthur C. Clarke, New York Times bestselling author" Jules Verne, a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before air travel and practical submarines were invented, and before practical means of space travel had been devised. He is one of the most translated authors in the world. Most popular works include adventure novels: Around The World in Eighty Days ISBN: 9781907832352, A journey to the centre of the Earth ISBN: 9781909175143, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea ISBN: 9781909676435 Frederick Davidson (1932-2005), also known as David Case, was one of the most prolific readers in the audiobook industry, recording more than eight hundred audiobooks in his lifetime, including over two hundred for Blackstone Audio. Born in London, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed for many years in radio plays for the British Broadcasting Company before coming to America in 1976. He received AudioFile 's Golden Voice Award and numerous Earphones Awards and was nominated for a Grammy for his readings. Around the World in 80 Days By Jules Verne Blackstone Audiobooks Copyright © 2004 Jules Verne All right reserved. ISBN: 9780786184569 Chapter One I In which Phileas Fogg and Passepartout accept each other, the one as master, the other as man Mr. Phileas Fogg lived, in 1872, at No. 7 Savile Row, Burlington Gardens, the house in which Sheridan died in 1814. He was one of the most noticeable members of the Reform Club, though he seemed always to avoid attracting attention; an enigmatical personage, about whom little was known, except that he was a polished man of the world. People said that he resembled Byron,—at least that his head was Byronic; but he was a bearded, tranquil Byron, who might live on a thousand years without growing old. Certainly an Englishman, it was more doubtful whether Phileas Fogg was a Londoner. He was never seen on ’Change, nor at the Bank, nor in the counting-rooms of the “City”; no ships ever came into London docks of which he was the owner; he had no public employment; he had never been entered at any of the Inns of Court, either at the Temple, or Lincoln’s Inn, or Gray’s Inn; nor had his voice ever resounded in the Court of Chancery, or in the Exchequer, or the Queen’s Bench, or the Ecclesiastical Courts. He certainly was not a manufacturer; nor was he a merchant or a gentleman farmer. His name was strange to the scientific and learned societies, and he never was known to take part in the sage deliberations of the Royal Institution or the London Institution, the Artisan’s Association or the Institution of Arts and Sciences. He belonged, in fact, to none of the numerous societies which swarm in the English capital, from the Harmonic to that of the entomologists, founded mainly for the purpose of abolishing pernicious insects. Phileas Fogg was a member of the Reform; and that was all. The way in which he got admission to this exclusive club was simple enough. He was recommended by the Barings, with whom he had an open credit. His ch