The Adventures of Captain Hatteras: The Desert of Ice

Why would the Captain jump into a volcano crater? And will he make it back out alive?

"The Desert of Ice" is the second part of Jules Verne’s novel "The Adventures of Captain Hatteras" from 1864. Captain Hatteras and his crew who have survived the long winter on island "New America" continue their expedition to the North Pole. They discover an island with an active volcano and it turns out that the exact location of the pole is in the crater.

Is this the end to the long, difficult and dangerous expedition? If nobody survives how will the rest of the world learn about it? Is it possible that the Captain survives, and is the information he gained more important and valuable than his own health and well being? Jules Verne (1828-1905) was a French novelist who mostly wrote adventure fiction inspired by the scientific advances of the 19th century. With the help of editor Pierre-Jules Hetzel he wrote a series of books called "Extraordinary Travels", which includes "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1864), "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" (1870), and "Around the World in Eighty Days" (1873). There have been many film adaptations of Jules Verne’s books with the most notable being "Journey to the Center of The Earth" (2008) starring Brendan Fraser and Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games), "Around the World in 80 Days" (1956), and "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" (2012) starring Dwayne Johnson. Widely popular with both children and adults, Verne is one of the most translated authors of all time, and still inspires people the world over.