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. François 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.

A Note on the TranslationIntroductionThe Begum's Millions by Jules VerneMr. Sharp Makes his EntranceTwo FriendsA News ItemDivided by TwoThe City of SteelThe Albrecht MineThe Central BlockThe Dragon's LairAbsent without LeaveAn Article from Unsere Centurie, a German JournalDinner at Dr. Sarrasin'sThe CouncilLetter from Marcel Bruckmann to Professor Schultze, Stahlstadt,Preparing for CombatThe San Francisco Stock ExchangeTwo Frenchman against a CityExplanations at GunpointThe Kernel of MysteryA Family AffairConclusionNotesBibliographyJules Gabriel Verne: A BiographyAbout the Contributors