The Mysterious Island
(Book)

"Jules Gabriel Verne (February 8, 1828 - March 24, 1905) was a French author who pioneered the science-fiction genre. He is best known for novels such as Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873). 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 the third most translated author in the world, according to Index Translationum.

The book tells the adventures of five Americans on an uncharted island in the South Pacific. The story begins in the American Civil War, during the siege of Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America. As famine and death ravage the city, five northern prisoners of war decide to escape in a rather unusual way - by hijacking a balloon.The five are Cyrus Smith, a railroad engineer in the Union army, his African-American manservant Neb (short for Nebuchadnezzar), who Verne repeatedly states is not a slave but instead a loyal butler, the sailor Bonadventure Pencroff (who is referred to only by his surname, but his "christian name" is given to their boat) and his protege Herbert (or Harbert, depending on the translation) Brown (a young boy whom Pencroff raises as his own after the death of his father, Pencroff's former captain), and the journalist Gideon Spilett. The company is completed by Cyrus' dog 'Top'."