Michael Strogoff: Courier to the Czar (Fitzroy Edition)

192 pp. An abridged edition with a new introduction and postscript by I.O. Evans. "Michael Strogoff: The Courier of the Czar is a novel written by Jules Verne in 1876. Critics, including Leonard S. Davidow, writing from Reading, Pennsylvania, in his 1937 introduction to The Spencer Press reprint as a volume in its 'Classic Romances of Literature' series consider it one of Verne's best books. Davidow wrote, 'Jules Verne has written no better book than this, in fact it is deservedly ranked as one of the most thrilling tales ever written.' Unlike some of Verne's other novels, it is not science fiction, but a scientific phenomenon (Leidenfrost effect) is a plot device. The book was later adapted to a play, by Verne himself and Adolphe d'Ennery. Incidental music to the play was written by Alexandre Artus in 1880. The book has been adapted several times for films, television and cartoon series. Michael Strogoff, a 30-year-old native of Omsk, is a courier for Tsar Alexander II of Russia." By the author of Journey to the Centre of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. "I.O. Evans (Idrisyn Oliver Evans) love of science fiction and Jules Verne led him to envisage a series of Jules Verne books where he could re-introduce to the public the many works that were not commonly known. It was the publisher Bernard Hanison (a 29 year old) who [agreed upon] a contract with I.O. Evans in 1958 for such a series. The address of the offices of Bernard Hanison was 10 Fitzroy Street, and hence the name of the series, Fitzroy Edition. Bernard Hanison published under his own name Bernard Hanison, London and also under ARCO Publications Ltd., London. After [finalizing] the contract with I.O Evans, Bernard, in 1959, sold the companies and the works to be published to MacGibbon and Kee. It was MacGibbon and Kee who continued to publish the Fitzroy Edition under the ARCO Publications banner. Any books in the works at the time could still be published but recognition to the publishing entity Bernard Hanison had to be given. The first books in the Fitzroy Edition, can be identified as such because of the Hanison markings." - Jules Verne Collecting website "The intention of this new edition of one of the greatest of imaginative writers is to make it as comprehensive as possible, and to include his lesser-known, as well as his most popular works. Jules Verne is universally acclaimed as the founder of modern science fiction and as the author of a number of exciting stories of travel and adventure, but he also produced several historical novels and some acute studies of contemporary life. The first three books in the series are selected to illustrate several aspects of his work. A Floating City is based on his own experiences when he crossed the Atlantic in the ill-fated Great Eastern, a vessel that was intended to be the greatest achievement of nineteenth-century engineering but which proved to be its greatest failure. The Begum's Fortune, a remarkable work of science fiction, displays its author's gift of foresight, for it contains not only what is probably the first idea of an artificial satellite but a grim foreboding of the modern totalitarian state. Finally, Five Weeks in a Balloon demanded inclusion, for it was through this book that Verne won his success as a writer. The series is under the general editorship of I.O. Evans, F.R.G.S., compiler of Jules Verne: Master of Science Fiction, and for many years an admirer of Verne and a science fiction addict." - From the Publisher "In the days of science fiction the old masters are not necessarily outworn; their prescience and vitality remain something to wonder at, even if their world is old-fashioned. The major works of Jules Verne have never been dropped; witness the fabulous success of Round the World in Eighty Days... The volumes in the Fitzroy Edition by I.O. Evans, give in somewhat abbreviated form some of the lesser known novels which I found most entertaining. With his tremendous knowledge and industry, Verne filled pages with detail which is here pruned away to give a quicker narrative." - The Guardian