Michael Strogoff; Or, The Courier of the Czar

Critics, including Leonard S. Davidow, writing from Reading, Pennsylvania, in his 1937 introduction to The Spencer Press reprint as a volume in its ”Classic Romances of Literature” series consider it one of Verne's best books. Davidow wrote, ”Jules Verne has written no better book than this, in fact it is deservedly ranked as one of the most thrilling tales ever written.” Unlike some of Verne's other famous novels, it is not science fiction, but a scientific phenomenon (Leidenfrost effect) is a plot device.