Around the World in Eighty Days

Lore & Background

The novel was written during difficult times for France and Verne, including the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), financial difficulties, his father's recent death, and witnessing a public execution. Technological innovations of the 19th century—the first transcontinental railroad in America (1869), the Suez Canal (1869), and the linking of Indian railways (1870)—made rapid circumnavigation possible and fascinated Verne and his readership.

The story began serialization in Le Temps on 6 November 1872, published in instalments over 47 days, with its ending timed to synchronize Fogg's 21 December deadline with the real world. Some readers believed the journey was actually taking place, and bets were placed; railway and ship liner companies lobbied Verne to appear in the book. The final twist involves Fogg believing he has lost the bet because he counts 80 days, but due to crossing the date line eastward, it is only 79 days in London, so he arrives on the 80th day by his count but on the 79th day by London's calendar.

Reader's Guide

Around the World in Eighty Days marked a notable transition from the age of exploration to an age of fully global tourism that could be enjoyed in relative comfort and safety. It sparked the imagination that anyone could schedule and travel around the world, a feat previously reserved for heroic adventurers. The novel's serialization created real-world engagement, with readers placing bets and companies seeking inclusion.

Following publication in 1873, various people attempted to follow Fogg's fictional circumnavigation. In 1889, Nellie Bly completed the journey in 72 days for the New York World, meeting Verne in Amiens. Elizabeth Bisland, working for Cosmopolitan, raced Bly and finished in 76.5 days. In 1894, George Griffith carried out a publicity stunt on behalf of C. Arthur Pearson. The book remains one of Verne's most acclaimed works, enduring as a classic adventure story.

Did You Know?

• The wager in the story was £20,000, equivalent to £2.5 million in 2024.
• The story was serialized in Le Temps from 6 November 1872, with the final chapters published on 22 December to match Fogg's deadline.
• The plot twist relies on Fogg gaining a day by crossing longitudes eastward, experiencing 80 sunrises while London saw only 79.

The Wager and the Journey

Phileas Fogg, a wealthy London gentleman defined by his mathematical precision and solitary habits, finds himself at the Reform Club on 2 October 1872. After a heated dispute over a newspaper article claiming the globe can now be circumnavigated in eighty days, he stakes half his fortune—£20,000—on completing the feat by 8:45 p.m. on 21 December. His newly hired French valet Jean Passepartout accompanies him, and the pair depart by train that very night. Their route threads through Suez, Bombay, Allahabad, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Yokohama, San Francisco, New York, and finally back to Liverpool and London. Along the way, they rescue Aouda from a sati pyre, face a bison crossing and a Sioux ambush on the American transcontinental rail, and endure a hurricane that forces Fogg to purchase his own vessel and burn its wooden fittings for fuel. The journey's climax hinges on a single overlooked fact: by travelling eastward, Fogg has gained an entire day, arriving at the Club precisely on time.

A World Made Small by Technology

The novel emerged from a specific technological moment. Three breakthroughs between 1869 and 1870—America's first transcontinental railroad, the opening of the Suez Canal, and the completion of India's cross-subcontinental railway network—collectively made a comfortable, scheduled round-the-world trip possible for the first time in history. Verne, writing in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War during which he had been conscripted as a coastguard, channeled his fascination with these innovations into narrative form. The book marks a cultural threshold: the end of an era when circumnavigation was reserved for the most hardy explorers, and the beginning of an age in which any person could theoretically draw up an itinerary, purchase tickets, and circle the globe in relative safety. Verne's personal circumstances compounded his creative urgency; he was suffering financial strain from unpaid royalties on earlier works, had recently lost his father, and had been deeply disturbed by witnessing a public execution. The novel's optimism about travel and progress stands in striking contrast to the darkness surrounding its creation.

The Serial Publication Trick

Verne's serialization of the novel in Le Temps was a masterstroke of narrative timing. The story began appearing on 6 November 1872 and ran in instalments over forty-five days, with the publication schedule deliberately synchronized to Fogg's in-story deadline of 21 December. Chapter XXXV appeared on 20 December; on the 21st—the day Fogg was supposedly due back at the Reform Club—no installment was published at all. Then on 22 December, the final two chapters revealed his success. The effect on readers was extraordinary. Because the story was unfolding in real time alongside the publication, many readers genuinely believed the journey was actually happening. People placed wagers, and some railway companies reportedly took notice. This blending of a fictional deadline with actual calendar dates transformed a simple adventure serial into a shared cultural event, making the audience feel complicit in Fogg's race against the clock.

The Cast of Characters

The novel's emotional core rests on four figures whose interactions drive the plot. Phileas Fogg is defined by his rigid, almost mechanical devotion to schedules; he shows no visible emotion when two hard-won days are lost to rescuing Aouda, yet he spends nearly £19,000 of his £20,000 stake covering the journey's expenses. Jean Passepartout, his bumbling but loyal French valet, provides comic relief and physical daring—disguising himself as a dead husband to escape a pyre, working in a circus to earn passage home, and ultimately discovering the gained-day detail that saves the wager. Scotland Yard Detective Fix shadows the group from Bombay onward, misidentifying Fogg as a bank robber; his persistent pursuit creates much of the tension, yet Fogg rewards him with a share of the remaining funds. Aouda, rescued from a sati ritual in India, becomes the journey's moral compass and its romantic resolution, proposing to Fogg the day after he believes he has lost everything.