MATHIAS SANDORF follows the lonely quest of a Hungarian patriot seeking revenge.  Mathias Sandorf and two companions had been deeply involved in a conspiracy to win Hungarian independence, only to have it unmasked by two petty thieves hoping to earn a reward from the police.  Of the three conspirators, only Sandorf escapes; he vows revenge and spends fifteen years tracking down his betrayors. 

Jules Gabriel Verne (1828-1905) was a French author who, along with British writer H. G. Wells, is considered to be one of the founders of the science fiction genre.  Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater  travel before navigable aircraft and practical submarines were invented, and before any means of space travel had been devised. He is the second most translated author of all time, only behind Agatha Christie.  A number of his books have been made in films several times.