The Mysterious Island tells the adventures of five Americans on an uncharted island in the South Pacific. A story of castaways, similar to Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson, 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 by the unusual means of hijacking a balloon. After flying in stormy weather for several days, the group crash-lands on a cliff-bound, volcanic, unknown (and fictitious) island. With the knowledge of the brilliant engineer Smith, the five are able to sustain themselves on the island, producing fire, pottery, bricks, nitroglycerin, iron, a simple electric telegraph, a home on a stony cliffside called “Granite House”, and even a seaworthy ship, which they name the “Bonaventure” (in honor of Pencroff, the driving force behind its construction). However, there is a mystery on the island in the form of an unseen deus ex machina, responsible for Cyrus’ survival after falling from the balloon, the mysterious rescue of Top from a dugong, the appearance of a box of equipment (guns and ammunition, tools, etc.), and other seemingly inexplicable occurrences. Only later do they find they have a hidden benefactor: Captain Nemo, of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, who resides, alone, secretly on the island. In time, the tiny colony becomes so prosperous that it is able to rescue another castaway from an island a hundred miles away. But all their work will come to naught – their island’s volcano is about to awake! The colonists, forewarned of the eruption by Nemo, find themselves safe but stranded on the last remaining piece of the island above sea level. Will they be rescued, or will all their struggles to survive and accomplishments be for naught?
21 Hours and 41 Minutes
