Jules Verne was born in France in 1828 and died in 1905. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel was wildly successful, producing many brilliant novels in the burgeoning genre of science fiction: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Around the World in 80 Days , among others. Verne is the second most translated author in the world, after Agatha Christie and before Shakespeare.