Book Description     Jules Verne (1828-1905) is best known for his science fiction stories, at the time called "tales of imagination", even though he also wrote several historical novels.          As one of the first science fiction writers, his novels show the basics of good science fiction - good plot, good characterization, sound science, and good projections of scientific trends.          His ability to project the future of science was remarkable. Among his projections were the modern submarine, television, guided missles, satellites, and the airplane. His accuracy was not only in the invention but in the uses to which they were put.          The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature     Novel by Jules Verne, published as De la Terre a la Lune (1865) and also published as The Baltimore Gun Club and The American Gun Club. Although the novel was subtitled Trajet direct en 97 heures 20 minutes ("Direct Passage in Ninety-Seven Hours and Twenty Minutes"), the actual journey to the Moon was depicted in the book's sequel, Autour de la Lune (1870; Round the Moon). From the Earth to the Moon concerns a group of obsessive American Civil War veterans, members of the Baltimore Gun Club, who conceive the idea of creating an enormous cannon in order to shoot a "space-bullet" to the Moon from a site in Florida.          Publisher Comments :     Written almost a century before the daring flights of the astronauts, Jules Verne's prophetic novel of man's race to the stars is a classic adventure tale enlivened by broad satire and scientific acumen.          When the members of the elite Baltimore Gun Club find themselves lacking any urgent assignments at the close of the Civil War, their president, Impey Barbicane, proposes that they build a gun big enough to launch a rocket to the moon. But when Barbicane's adversary places a huge wager that the project will fail and a daring volunteer elevates the mission to a "manned" flight, one man's dream turns into an international space race.          Book Dimension:     length: (cm)17.9 width:(cm)10.7