Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by Jules Verne, published in 1870 under the title Vingt mille lieues sous les mers. Many English translations of the novel have been entitled 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but this is an inaccurate translation. It should be 20,000 Miles Under the the Sea whereas Twenty thousand leagues is sixty thousand miles (about ninety-six thousand kilometres), and this distance is a measure of length, not depth.

The plot follows the adventures of the protagonists in an advanced experimental submarine built in secrecy and commanded by the mysterious Captain Nemo (the name means "no one" in Latin). Some observers thought the submarine to be a marine mammal, and three of the book's heroes were thrown overboard during the "hunt" for it. From there they were graciously rescued by Captain Nemo and travelled with him.

Their travels took them to numerous points in the worlds' oceans, some of them being known to Jules Verne from real travellers' descriptions and guesses, while others being totally fictional. Thus, the travellers witness both the real (and beautiful) corals of the Red Sea, and the obviously fictional submerged Atlantis. Similarly, some of Verne's ideas about submarines which are laid out in this book turned out to be prophetic (such as the high speed and secret conduct of today's nuclear attack submarines), while others were less so (such as the need to re-surface every 48 hours to get fresh air).

Due to the age of the book, it is now out of copyright, and may be downloaded via Project Gutenberg from here.