Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas is a classic science fiction
adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally
serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-Jules Hetzel's
fortnightly periodical, the Magasin d'éducation et de récréation. A
deluxe octavo edition, published by Hetzel in November 1871. The book
was widely acclaimed on its release and remains so; it is regarded as
one of the premier adventure novels and one of Verne's greatest works,
along with Around the World in Eighty Days and Journey to the Center of
the Earth. Its depiction of Captain Nemo's underwater ship, the
Nautilus, is regarded as ahead of its time, since it accurately
describes many features of today's submarines, which in the 1860s were
comparatively primitive vessels.