The Begum's Millions (Early Classics of Science Fiction) [Hardcover]

Jules Verne (Author), Arthur B. Evans (Editor), Stanford L. Luce (Translator), Peter Schulman (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: Early Classics of Science Fiction | Publication Date: November 30, 2005

When two European scientists unexpectedly inherit an Indian rajah's fortune, each builds an experimental city of his dreams in the wilds of the American Northwest. France-Ville is a harmonious urban community devoted to health and hygiene, the specialty of its French founder, Dr. Francois Sarrasin. Stahlstadt, or City of Steel, is a fortress-like factory town devoted to the manufacture of high-tech weapons of war. Its German creator, the fanatically pro-Aryan Herr Schultze, is Verne's first truly evil scientist. In his quest for world domination and racial supremacy, Schultze decides to showcase his deadly wares by destroying France-Ville and all its inhabitants. Both prescient and cautionary, The Begum's Millions is a masterpiece of scientific and political speculation and constitutes one of the earliest technological utopia/dystopias in Western literature. This Wesleyan edition features notes, appendices, and a critical introduction as well as all the illustrations from the original French edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Originally and inexpertly translated in 1879, Verne's cautionary tale concerns human failings in the face of both wealth and scientific progress. Instead of valorizing progress like most Verne novels, this one presents contested definitions of the utopian impulse to reform human nature. Two scientists, the benevolent, modest Frenchman, Dr. Sarrasin, and the egotistical German, Herr Schultze, find that they share a large inheritance, five million francs, left by a French ancestor who married East-Indian royalty. They use the money to realize two "utopian" cities in the American Northwest. Verne carefully presents the hygienic, peaceful, rational city France-Ville of Dr. Sarrasin as a haven for enlightened, cooperative citizens, in contrast to the City of Steel, the industrialized hell of Herr Schultze. With the City of Steel's resources, the German plots the destruction of France-Ville as his first act in ensuring the subjugation of all inferior, non-Saxon races. Since the work is full of racial and personal stereotypes, long paragraphs explaining technological, social and scientific projects, unmediated by Verne's usual humor or adventure plots, it will appeal most to the literary completist.
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Review

"To read Jules Verne is one of the great treats of childhood. To read Jules Verne later in life is to discover a writer just as satisfying but even richer, one who is not only a natural storyteller but also a mythmaker, a social critic and an innovative artist. ...Give The Begum's Millions or one of (his) other novels a try.... There's a lot more to Jules Verne than what you find in those old, albeit quite wonderful, Disney movies." --Washington Post Book World

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 308 pages
• Publisher: Wesleyan; annotated edition edition (November 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0819567965
• ISBN-13: 978-0819567963
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,297,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sprightly translation of the Jules Verne utopian, moralistic tale with scholarly references, January 25, 2006

By 

Henry Berry "Henry Berry" (Southport, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Begum's Millions (Early Classics of Science Fiction) (Hardcover)

This 1879 moralistic Verne novel contrasts the ideal French city France-Ville with the malevolent German City of Steel. The founders of the respective cities were able to build them with their receipt of millions of dollars from an Indian rajah. The dark view of the German character Herr Schultze and his militarisic, imperialistic City of Steel is attributed to the French view of Germany after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. But "The Begum's Millions" is not simply a nationalistic, chauvinistic French work of the time, but also a novelistic treatment in the genre of "Brave New World" and "1984" of central political and cultural subjects and controversies of the modern era. Industrialization, urban life, the benefits of improved health brought by science, political leadership, and the scourge of more destructive weapons are starkly portrayed. The French city manages to overcome the dire threat from the German city, absorbing the positive aspects of the latter into it for one combined community which is a "model city and factory." Nonetheless one can now see Verne's novel as a prophecy of the history of 20th-century Europe with the German city the victor. This edition part of Wesleyan's ongoing Early Classics of Science Fiction series is more than a economic, smart translation. With bibliographic matter of 20 pages on Verne's publications and another 11 pages on secondary sources, it is a notable resource on this pioneering author in the field of science fiction and fantasy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Edition of a Great Verne Novel, February 16, 2007

By 

David Hurwitz (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Begum's Millions (Early Classics of Science Fiction) (Hardcover)

The premise this novel is simple, if rather outlandish. Two distantly related scientists, Dr. Sarrasin of France and Professor Schultze of Germany, each inherit half of an enormous fortune. Each decides to use his share to construct a city in the wilderness of territorial Oregon. Dr. Sarrasin, whose primary interest is hygiene, founds France-Ville, a city of cleanliness and healthy living. Herr Schultze, an engineer, creates Stahlstadt, a combination coalmine, steel foundry, and weapons plant of colossal proportions. In order to demonstrate the power of his products to the world, and out of contempt for what he calls "the Latin races," Herr Schultze decides to destroy France-Ville by bombardment. Here, Verne's technical details anticipate inventions to come. Schultze creates MRV-style scatter-bombs, reminiscent of World War Two era firebombs or Regan era nuclear warheads, designed to shower fire over a wide area, as well as poison gas projectiles filled with deadly concentrations of carbon dioxide. France-Ville, it seems, is in serious trouble.
The hero of our story is Marcel Bruckman, an engineering student who is both roommate and tutor to Octave Sarrasin, the doctor's only son. Marcel is an Alsatian, not the dog of course, but a native of the conquered region. The novel begins in 1871, and Marcel has just lost his home to the enemy. Curiously, the novel, composed in 1879, hardly mentions the war directly. Marcel and Octave's military service is passed over a single paragraph, and their attitude toward the war's outcome is left to the reader's imagination. While Octave, newly rich, lives the high life in Paris, Marcel finishes school and then disappears, off to infiltrate Stahlstadt under an assumed name.
What follows is strangely reminiscent of a James Bond novel. Stahlstadt--both a fortress against intruders and a bureaucratic prison for its workers--is described in suffocating detail. Herr Schultze lives in a tower at the center of innumerable concentric rings of steel. He even has his own tropical jungle under a greenhouse dome, its heat maintained by geothermal energy, a stage set worthy of Dr. No or Goldfinger. In true super-villain form, he even allows Marcel to live once he is discovered as a spy, giving the young Alsatian time to plan a daring escape.
Of course, France-Ville is spared. There is, in fact, no climactic combat at all. Instead, Verne contrives an unusual and thoroughly surprising ending, which I will not spoil here. All in all, The Begum's Millions is a strange document. It encourages a post-war hatred of all things German while supposedly decrying racism and nationalism. The Chinese receive some odd treatment at the hands of the "enlightened" French. They are allowed to help build France-Ville, and at reasonable wages too, but only if they agree to return to China afterward, thus "solving" that very western problem of surplus cheap labor. Analogies could easily be made to the old bracero system or the new immigration policies the W administration is trying to implement. Despite the happy and relatively non-violent ending, this is one of Verne's more pessimistic novels. Money and scientific insight are depicted as dangerous when put into the wrong hands. The "wrong hands" here are defined by a man whose nation has suffered a bitter defeat. In spite of this, Verne has created an exciting adventure story, one which I believe most people can enjoy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Early Classic of Science Fiction, June 4, 2006

By 

Kara Ortiez (Hamilton, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Begum's Millions (Early Classics of Science Fiction) (Hardcover)

When two European scientists unexpectedly inherit an Indian rajah's fortune, each builds an experimental city of his dreams in the wilds of the American Northwest. And so begins The Begum's Millions, a masterpiece of scientific and political speculation. This Wesleyan edition features notes, appendices, and a critical introduction as well as all the illustrations from the original French edition. Here's what the Washington post Bookworld had to say: "To read Jules Verne is one of the great treats of childhood. To read Jules Verne later in life is to discover a writer just as satisfying but even richer, one who is not only a natural storyteller but also a mythmaker, a social critic and an innovative artist. ...Give The Begum's Millions or one of (his) other novels a try.... There's a lot more to Jules Verne than what you find in those old, albeit quite wonderful, Disney movies."