"The Blockade Runners" (french: Les forceurs de blocus) is an 1865 novella by Jules Verne. In 1871 it was published in single volume together with novel '' A Floating City'' as a part of the ''

Voyages Extraordinaires The ''Voyages extraordinaires'' (; ) is a Collection (publishing), collection or novel sequence, sequence of novels and short story, short stories by the French writer Jules Verne. Fifty-four of these novels were originally published between 1 ...

'' series (''The Extraordinary Voyages''). An English translation was published in 1874.

Plot introduction

The

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

plot centers on the exploits of a British merchant captain named James Playfair who must break the Union blockade of Charleston harbor in

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

to trade supplies for cotton and, later in the book, to rescue Halliburtt, the abolitionist journalist father of a young girl held prisoner (the father, not the girl) by the Confederates. Verne's tale was inspired by reality as many ships were actually lost while acting as blockade runners in and around Charleston in the early 1860s.

Adaptations

The book was produced as a radio play of the same name in 2006.The Colonial Radio Players, ''The Blockade Runners Audio CD'',

References

External links

''Les forceurs de blocus''
full original French text
17 illustrations
by Jules Férat * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blockade Runners, The 1865 short stories Short stories by Jules Verne American Civil War fiction Novels set on ships