14 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 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
Readers who love adventures in caves, tunnels and secret lakes will enjoy this novel. It also suits fans of persistent mysteries, Scottish scenery, mining lore and warm friendships tested by danger.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A warning makes the invitation matter
- Loyalty keeps the mine alive
- A hidden flame reveals the seam
- Discovery turns into a trap
- Harry refuses to abandon a stranger
- Nell needs a choice beyond darkness
- Fear needs evidence rather than guesses
- Darkness shelters and conceals
- Progress leaves a mystery beneath it
Who’s who
- James StarrA retired Edinburgh mining engineer who answers a secret letter and wants to see the old Aberfoyle mine live again.
- Simon FordThe old overman who never left the dead mine and is sure a new coal seam still lies hidden in it.
- Harry FordSimon's calm, brave son, a born miner who is determined to find the unseen enemy in the mine.
- MadgeSimon's strong, warm wife, who keeps the underground cottage cheerful and believes the mine is only asleep.
- Jack RyanA merry piper and singer, Harry's friend, who blames every strange event on goblins yet risks his life for others.
- NellA pale young woman raised in total darkness, who has never seen the sun and carries a secret she fears to share.
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The Underground City
by Jules Verne · 1877
Two contradictory letters send an Edinburgh engineer into a dead coal mine where someone unseen is watching.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“We are all, in one way or another, the children of Jules Verne.”
In short
Imagine two letters arriving on the same day. The first asks you to travel to an abandoned coal mine and keep the trip secret.
The Underground City at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 45 min2 h 10 min fast, 3 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 39,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1877by Jules Verne
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A secret letter calls an engineer back
Ten years before the main events, James Starr, manager of the Aberfoyle coal mines, gathers the workers at the Dochart pit. The last block of coal has been cut. He tells them the mine is spent and they must scatter.
One man will not go. Simon Ford, the overman, says that he, his wife Madge and his boy Harry will stay faithful to the mine, their good old nurse. Starr hears nothing more for ten years.
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Details
- First published
- 1877
- Language
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- Reading time
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- Level
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Cite this edition
Verne, Jules. The Underground City. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-underground-city.
Verne, J. (2026). The underground city. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-underground-city (Original work published 1877)
Verne, Jules. The Underground City. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-underground-city.
@book{verne2026underground,
author = {Verne, Jules},
title = {The Underground City},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-underground-city},
note = {First published 1877}
}
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What is The Underground City about?
It follows engineer James Starr, who is called back to an abandoned Scottish coal mine. There he and his old friends find a vast hidden cavern full of coal, and they must face a mysterious enemy who tries to stop them.
Who is Nell in The Underground City?
Nell is a young woman found at the bottom of a shaft in the new mine. She has never seen daylight and knows little of the world, and she is loved by the Ford family. She holds a secret about the mine.
What is firedamp in the book?
Firedamp is a gas that escapes from coal and burns or explodes when mixed with air. Simon Ford uses it as proof of a hidden seam, and it later matters again in the story.
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).
“No coal, no fire-damp. No effect without a cause.”
More by Jules Verne
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