"An American frigate tracks down a ship-sinking submarine commanded by the mysterious Captain Nemo." *** "The voyage of the 'Nautilus' permitted Verne to describe the wonders of an undersea world almost totally unknown to the general public of the period. Indebted to literary tradition for his Atlantis, he made his major innovation in having the submarine completely powered by electricity, although the interest in electrical forces goes back to Poe...

The Tiny Duchy of Grand Fenwick undertakes to rehabilitate its national economy by declaring war on the U.S., since that nation takes tender care of its defeated enemies. The story tells how the Fenwickian invasion Force of 23 longbowmen not only won the war, but seized the newly invented quadium bomb and by virtue of its possession compelled the cessation of the armament race.