Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

When ships of several nations sight a mysterious sea monster in 1866, thought to be a giant narwhal, the United States sends a frigate to hunt it in Jules Verne's science fiction adventure. Aboard are the French marine biologist Pierre Aronnax, who narrates, the Canadian harpooner Ned Land and Conseil, the professor's loyal servant. When the ship attacks, Aronnax and Land are thrown overboard, Conseil follows, and the three discover that the monster is a submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by the mysterious Captain Nemo, who tells them they can never leave. The title measures distance traveled under the seas, not depth. Verne drew inspiration from the Plongeur, a French submarine whose model he saw at the 1867 Exposition Universelle.

Richard Branson named it in his list of 65 books worth reading in a lifetime.