Published in 1863, Five Weeks in a Balloon was the first novel in what would become Jules Verne's "Extraordinary Voyages" series. It recounts the adventures of scholar and explorer Dr. Samuel Fergusson, accompanied by his manservant Joe and his friend Richard "Dick" Kennedy, who make a 4, 000-mile trip across the African continent-still not fully explored-in a hydrogen balloon. When the books was published, public interest in fanciful tales of African exploration was at its height, and the novel was an instant hit, it made Verne financially independent and led to long-term contracts for some sixty books over the next four decades. Mixing adventure, comedy, and science fiction, the book has all the ingredients of a classic Verne novel: sly humor, cheeky characters, scientific invention, a tangled plot, suspense, surprise, and visions of an unknown realm. More than 150 years after its first publication, it retains its ability to intrigue and entertain.Newly designed and typeset by Waking Lion Press.