4 h 55 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 55 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a coal mine thought empty holds a village, a lake, and someone determined to keep strangers out?
An odd letter draws retired engineer James Starr back to the coal mines at Aberfoyle, near Edinburgh. Young miner Harry Ford leads him down through old levels and long ladders. Below ground, the Ford family still makes its home, and Simon Ford believes a rich new coal seam waits to be found.
But discovery brings danger. A falling stone nearly kills Starr, and strange events threaten the explorers. Harry also meets Nell, a young woman who has never seen daylight and fears something she will not name. In The Underground City, Jules Verne turns the wish to understand what lies beneath Scotland into an adventure through darkness.
What you’ll discover
- A world beneath Scotland Explore old mine galleries, a hidden lake, and a village far below the surface.
- Danger in the galleries Follow Starr and the Fords as their search meets a threatening, unseen resistance.
- Nell's life in darkness Meet a young woman whose fear gives the underground mystery a deeply human heart.
- Curiosity beyond treasure Discover how the search for coal also becomes a quest to understand the earth.
- A home below ground Meet the Fords, whose courage, practical care, and loyalty bring warmth to the mine.
Who will love it
For readers who love adventure, vivid settings and a clear, fast plot, and anyone curious about mining and the engineering of the Victorian age.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A letter calls the old engineer back
- The Fords live deep inside the earth
- Someone below wants them to stop
- Nell has never seen the sky
- What the story is really about
- How Verne builds the underground world
Who’s who
- James StarrA retired engineer from Edinburgh who once ran the Aberfoyle mines and returns to them, driven by curiosity and old loyalty.
- Simon FordThe old overman of the Dochart pit, who lives below ground and believes a rich new coal seam is waiting to be found.
- Madge FordSimon's wife, a warm and practical woman who keeps the family home in the mine and cares for those who need her.
- Harry FordSimon's son, a brave young miner who knows the pit well and wants to protect the people he loves.
- NellA young woman raised in the dark who has never seen daylight and who is afraid of something she will not name.
- Jack RyanA cheerful miner and singer, loyal to the Fords, who joins the search and lightens the mood below.
- SilfaxA fierce old man who lives in the hidden depths of the mine and guards his secrets with a savage will.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- 4 h 55 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Read and hear La ciudad subterránea in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
La ciudad subterránea
by Julio Verne · 1877
An engineer returns to a Scottish coal mine, where a hidden world awaits and someone in the dark wants him gone.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Underground City is a short adventure novel by Jules Verne, first published in French in 1877. It is also known as The Child of the Cavern and as Black Indies.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A letter calls the old engineer back
James Starr is an engineer from Edinburgh. For years he managed the great coal mines at Aberfoyle, in the Scottish lowlands. He knew every gallery of the Dochart pit, and he loved the work. But the mines gave out. The seams were worked to the end, the miners scattered, and Starr settled into a quiet life, missing the dark that once filled his days.
Then a letter arrives. It comes from Simon Ford, who was the overman of the Dochart pit when Starr ran it. Ford writes that he has found something and wants Starr to come and see it. He asks Starr to tell no one, and he gives a place and a time. Starr cannot tell if the old man is wise or only lonely, yet the message pulls at him.
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What is The Underground City by Jules Verne about?
It tells of an engineer called back to an old Scottish coal mine, where a former overman claims to have found a new seam. Danger and mystery meet him below, along with a girl who has never seen daylight.
Is The Underground City the same as Black Indies?
Yes. The novel was first published in French as Les Indes noires, which means the black Indies, a name for coal as a source of wealth. English editions are titled The Underground City or The Child of the Cavern.
Is The Underground City based on a true story?
No, it is fiction. Verne set it around real Scottish places such as Aberfoyle and Edinburgh and used real mining knowledge, but the characters and the hidden settlement below ground are his own invention.
The author
Jules Verne
1828–1905 · French adventure novelist
Jules Verne was a French writer born in Nantes in 1828. He lived in Paris and later in Amiens, where he died in 1905. His novels include Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).
More by Julio Verne
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