Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, Journeys and Discoveries in Africa by Three Englishmen is an adventure novel by Jules Verne published in 1863.

Five Weeks in a Balloon: Illustrated with 78 original illustrations from Riou and Montaut (1867), from the english edition of 1869. Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, Journeys and Discoveries in Africa by Three Englishmen (French: Cinq semaines en ballon) is an adventure novel by Jules Verne. It is the first Verne novel in which he perfected the "ingredients" of his later work, skillfully mixing a plot full of adventure and twists that hold the reader's interest with passages of technical, geographic, and historic description. The book gives readers a glimpse of the exploration of Africa, which was still not completely known to Europeans of the time, with explorers traveling all over the continent in search of its secrets. Public interest in fanciful tales of African exploration was at its height, and the book was an instant hit; it made Verne financially independent and got him a contract with Jules Hetzel's publishing house, which put out several dozen more works of his for over forty years afterward.

One of the great “first novels” in world literature is now available in a complete, accurate English translation. Prepared by two of America’s leading Verne scholars, Frederick Paul Walter and Arthur B. Evans, this edition honors not only Verne’s farseeing science, but also his zest, style, and storytelling brilliance. Initially published in 1863, Five Weeks in a Balloon was the first novel in what would become the author’s "Extraordinary Voyages" series. It tells the tale of a 4,000-mile balloon trip over the mysterious continent of Africa, a trip that wouldn’t actually take place until well into the next century. Fusing adventure, comedy, and science fiction, Five Weeks has all the key ingredients of classic Verne: sly humor and cheeky characters, an innovative scientific invention, a tangled plot that’s full of suspense and surprise, and visions of an unknown realm. As part of the Early Classics of Science Fiction series, this critical edition features extensive notes, all the illustrations from the original French edition, and a complete Verne biography and bibliography. Five Weeks in a Balloon will be a prized addition to libraries and science fiction reading lists, and a must-read for Verne fans and steampunk connoisseurs.

This carefully edited collection of "JULES VERNE: 25 Greatest Books in One Volume (Illustrated Edition)" has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Contents: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) Around the World in Eighty Days (1872) The Mysterious Island (1875) Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) From the Earth to the Moon (1865) Around the Moon (1869) Michael Strogoff: The Courier of the Czar (1876) In Search of the Castaways or, The Children of Captain Grant (1868) Adrift in Pacific or, Two Years' Vacation (1888) Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863) Robur the Conqueror or, The Clipper of the Clouds (1886) Master of the World (1904) The Adventures of Captain Hatteras (1866) Tribulations of a Chinaman in China (1879) Mathias Sandorf (1885) Hector Servadac or, Off on a Comet (1877) Facing the Flag (1896) The Begum's Fortune (1879) Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen (1878) The Survivors of the Chancellor(1875) The Underground City or, The Child of the Cavern (1877) Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon (1881) The Purchase of the North Pole or, Topsy Turvy (1889) Cæsar Cascabel (1890) The Castle of the Carpathians (1892) Jules Verne (1828-1905) was a French novelist who pioneered the genre of science fiction.A true visionary with an extraordinary talent for writing adventure stories, his writings incorporated the latest scientific knowledge of his day and envisioned technological developments that were years ahead of their time. Verne wrote about undersea, air, and space travel long before any navigable or practical craft were invented.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.