Unlike many of Jules Verne's works, Around the World in 80 Days is not a science fiction novel. It is written as a piece of realistic fiction that is set in the period in which it was written. All of the technology that appears in the novel was avaliable in 1872. Verne uses the book to argue that an eighty-day journey around the world was possible at the time this was written--provided one had a limitless supply of money, tenacity, talent, and luck.
Today we take rapid travel for granted, but modern readers can still appreciate an exciting adventure tale which carries a colorful cast of characters across every corner of the globe--and teaches them some valuable lessons along the way.
