This novel from the author of Around the World in Eighty Days and Journey to the Center of the Earth captures the terror and tragedy of a shipwreck. This 1875 novel portrays in devastating detail the final voyage of a British sailing ship, the Chancellor , in the form of a diary written by one of its passengers, J. R. Kazallon. Carrying eight travelers and twenty crew members, the Chancellor sets sail from Charleston, South Carolina. Nearly a month into its voyage, a fire breaks out in the cargo hold, initiating a tragic chain of events that will ultimately sink the ship and leave the survivors adrift on a raft in shark-infested waters. "Verne in all wrote 55 novels and many of them predicted aspects of the world and science as it exists today. Other novels included describing space travel, floating cities, lost islands and more. Many of his themes and plots have become major influences on generations of authors and screenwriters ever since. If you have not read one of his books, find one of these or one of the fifty plus novels and give him a few hours of your time. You will find the escape into the mind of one of the 'Fathers of Science Fiction' a worthwhile endeavor." —Times News Online