Two Years Holiday or Adrift in the Pacific

By Jules Verne and Julio Verne

Book Overview

The story takes place in March, 1860 and opens with a group of schoolboys aged between eight and fourteen on board a 100-ton schooner called the Sleuth moored at Auckland, New Zealand, and preparing to set off on a six-week vacation. With the exception of the oldest boy Gordon, an American, and Briant and Jack, two French brothers, all the boys are British.While the schooner's crew are ashore, the moorings are cast off under unknown circumstances and the ship drifts to sea, where it is caught by a storm. Twenty-two days later, the boys find themselves cast upon the shore of an uncharted island, which they name "Chairman Island." They go on many adventures and even catch wild animals while trying to survive. They remain there for the next two years until a passing ship sinks in the close vicinity of the island. The ship had been taken over by mutineers, intent on trafficking slaves. With the aid of two of the surviving members of the original crew, the boys are able to defeat the mutineers and make their escape from the island, which they find out is close to the Chilean coast (Hanover-Island located at 50?56' S, 74?47' W).The struggles for survival and dominance amongst the boys were to be echoed in William Golding's Lord of the Flies, written some 66 years later.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1536898791
• ISBN13: 9781536898798
• Release Date: August 2016
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 196 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"