Who wrote the 1869 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas?

Jules Verne wrote the 1869 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.

The French novel follows Professor Pierre Aronnax, his servant Conseil, and harpooner Ned Land after they are taken aboard the submarine Nautilus. The vessel is commanded by the mysterious Captain Nemo, one of the most recognizable figures in early science fiction. The story was first published in serial form between 1869 and 1870.

The title refers to distance travelled beneath the sea, not depth. In the original French, “league” is a unit of distance, and 20,000 leagues equals roughly 80,000 kilometres. The novel combines adventure with detailed descriptions of marine life, underwater landscapes, engineering, and exploration.

Verne’s submarine was fictional, but the book appeared during a period of rapid scientific and industrial change. His imagined Nautilus helped make him a foundational writer of science fiction. The novel is often confused with The Mysterious Island, another Verne work that also includes Captain Nemo and the Nautilus.