North America, late nineteenth century: a little boy is born whose destiny will prove exceptional. Travelling across the Northeast, he will show extraordinary physical strength. Soon, his exploits will spread around the North American continent, then Europe, making him truly the strongest man in the world! Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, open this book and be amazed by this incredible story!.

"Meet the father of science fiction, Jule Verne. Born in France in 1828, Jules Verne always dreamed of adventure. At age 11, he snuck onboard a ship headed for the Indies only to be discovered by his father and have his dreams dashed. After his father made him swear to only travel "in his imagination," Verne kept his promise for the rest of his life. He began writing adventure stories as a young man and became a popular writer throughout France. Known...

How does a story begin? Sometimes it begins with a dream, and a dreamer. Mary is one such dreamer, a little girl who learns to read by tracing the letters on the tombstone of her famous feminist mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, and whose only escape from her strict father and overbearing stepmother is through the stories she reads and imagines. Unhappy at home, she seeks independence, and at the age of sixteen runs away with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley,...