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The Begum's Millions
Early Classics of Science Fiction
Translated Stanford L. Luce
Edited Arthur B. Evans
Sales Date: 2014-06-19
Verne's first cautionary tale about the dangers of science — first modern and corrected English translation.
When two European scientists unexpectedly inherit an Indian rajah's fortune, each builds an experimental city of his dreams in the wilds of the American Northwest. France-Ville is a harmonious urban community devoted to health and hygiene, the specialty of its French founder, Dr. François Sarrasin. Stahlstadt, or City of Steel, is a fortress-like factory town devoted to the manufacture of high-tech weapons of war. Its German creator, the fanatically pro-Aryan Herr Schultze, is Verne's first truly evil scientist. In his quest for world domination and racial supremacy, Schultze decides to showcase his deadly wares by destroying France-Ville and all its inhabitants. Both prescient and cautionary, The Begum's Millions is a masterpiece of scientific and political speculation and constitutes one of the earliest technological utopia/dystopias in Western literature. This Wesleyan edition features notes, appendices, and a critical introduction as well as all the illustrations from the original French edition.
A Note on the Translation
Introduction
The Begum's Millions by Jules Verne
Mr. Sharp Makes his Entrance
Two Friends
A News Item
Divided by Two
The City of Steel
The Albrecht Mine
The Central Block
The Dragon's Lair
Absent without Leave
An Article from Unsere Centurie, a German Journal
Dinner at Dr. Sarrasin's
The Council
Letter from Marcel Bruckmann to Professor Schultze, Stahlstadt,
Preparing for Combat
The San Francisco Stock Exchange
Two Frenchman against a City
Explanations at Gunpoint
The Kernel of Mystery
A Family Affair
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Jules Gabriel Verne: A Biography
About the Contributors
JULES VERNE (1828-1905) was the first author to popularize the literary genre that has come to be known at science fiction. ARTHUR B. EVANS is Professor of French at DePauw University and series editor for Wesleyan's Early Classics of Science Fiction series. STANFORD L. LUCE is Professor Emeritus of French at Miami University in Ohio. PETER SCHULMAN is Associate Professor of French and International Studies at Old Dominion University.
"To read Jules Verne is one of the great treats of childhood. To read Jules Verne later in life is to discover a writer just as satisfying but even richer, one who is not only a natural storyteller but also a mythmaker, a social critic and an innovative artist. ...Give The Begum's Millions or one of (his) other novels a try.... There's a lot more to Jules Verne than what you find in those old, albeit quite wonderful, Disney movies."
~Washington Post Book World
"This edition of The Begum's Millions is a significant work of scholarship and an important contribution to the ongoing project of reclaiming and redefining Verne's reputation in the English-speaking world."
~Gary K. Wolfe, Professor of Humanities and English, Roosevelt University
"This book captures Verne's verve and vision, never lapsing in its narrative drive, throwing off ideas in joyful glee. The 19th Century lives on!"
~Gregory Benford, Professor of Physics, University of California, Irvine
"This edition of The Begum's Millions is a significant work of scholarship and an important contribution to the ongoing project of reclaiming and redefining Verne's reputation in the English-speaking world."
~Gary K. Wolfe, Professor of Humanities and English, Roosevelt University
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