Around the World in Eighty Days (Real Reads)

‘Today is Wednesday 2nd October. If I am back in this very room in the Reform Club on Saturday 21st December by eight forty-five in the evening, I win.’ Phileas Fogg bets a small fortune that he can go round the world in eighty days – a huge sum of money in 1872, worth more than a million pounds today. When he sets off on his amazing journey with his clever servant, Passepartout, they cannot afford the slightest delay. Will the two travelers have time to help Princess Aouda, when the brave and beautiful young woman is threatened with a cruel fate? Detective Fix believes that Mr Fogg is a bank robber, and plans to arrest him. Will that be the end of Phileas Fogg’s chance to save his fortune?

Real Reads are accessible texts designed to support the literacy development of primary and lower secondary age children while introducing them to the riches of our international literary heritage. Each book is a retelling of a work of great literature from one of the world’s greatest cultures, fitted into a 64-page book, making classic stories, dramas and histories available to intelligent young readers as a bridge to the full texts, to language students wanting access to other cultures, and to adult readers who are unlikely ever to read the original versions.

Jules Gabriel Verne (1828 – 1905) was a French writer who pioneered the science fiction genre. Notable amongst his works are "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", "Around the World in 80 Days" and "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth".

STEPHEN LILLIE is a London-based illustrator, photographer and cartoonist with more than twenty years’ experience, specializing in character development and social commentary.

TONY EVANS started his career as a high school English teacher, and has a Masters Degree in Literary Research from Lancaster University. After working as a Deputy Headteacher in Bristol he became a school inspector and educational consultant, based in Leeds. He is now a full-time writer and lives with his wife in the Yorkshire Dales. Tony has a particular interest in Victorian literature and culture. His publications include a collection of detective stories set in late nineteenth century England, as well as co-authorship of a book on steam locomotives and several books in the Real Reads series of re-told classics.