"Jules Verne's Facing the Flag" Topic

"Facing the Flag (Face au drapeau) is one of Jules Verne's lesser known works yet one of those in the late stages of his career that are more prescient for their insights into human behaviour than for their technological speculation. It is a slight work, only 180 pages soaking wet, and had the pleasure of being adapted into an equally obscure film by Czech auteur Karel Zeman that was translated into English as The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (which is the greatest non-Hollywood adaptation of Verne, if not the the greatest adaptation period). Nevertheless, published in 1896, it contains seeds of ideas that are becoming frighteningly relevant now: unaccountable madmen wielding weapons of mass destruction.

Our story begins in an insane asylum with a Professor Roch, who has been incarcerated for his own good by the United States government. Roch, a French scientist, claims to have developed an incredibly powerful explosive which he has been attempting to shop around to the world's most powerful nations. The trouble is that he asks an exorbitant amount of money and provides no demonstration of the explosive. To great genius is madness closely allied, and Roch is an inherently suspicious and mistrustful person. His greed is merely a function of his desire for recognition, in this case a recognition in monetary form to the tune of millions of dollars. Each refusal made him more unhinged until finally his mind was lost in the inwardly-turned madness of offended brilliance. Tending him is the French engineer Simon Hart, masquerading as an orderly of the lunatic asylum. Hart hopes that in his ravings Roch might let slip the details of his explosive.

Along comes Count d'Artigas, a wealthy nobleman of indeterminate ethnicity who has come to pay his respects to the mad scientist he has heard so much about in the newspapers. This visit becomes the prelude to an abduction. In the night, both Roch and Hart are stolen away in gags and blindfolds. Hart feels the distinct sensation of being lowered from a raft into something, but cannot figure out what. All he knows is that he is locked in a windowless cell devoid of light whenever he is not taken on deck of Count d'Artigas' schooner. The better part of the novel concerns Hart piecing together the mystery of the abduction, ultimately learning that he and Roch are kept aboard a submersible craft tugging the schooner along to wherever lays d'Artigas' lair…."
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Amicalement
Armand

Awww, you could have said you were posting a spoiler!

Sorry for that!.

Amicalement
Armand

I gotta look for that one…

Glad you like it my friend!.

Amicalement
Armand