Facing the Flag
Translation edition: F Tennyson Neely
Free public-domain edition — preview in your browser, no account required for the first chapter.
Preview free · sign up to save progress, download to your shelf, and sync with the apps
Already have an account? Sign in
This classic adventure novel offers a thrilling blend of scientific imagination, moral dilemmas, and high-seas intrigue that will captivate fans of Verne's visionary storytelling.
Edition details
Book Summary
A brilliant but insane French inventor, Thomas Roch, is kidnapped by pirates led by the notorious Ker Karraje, who seeks to exploit his devastating explosive, the fulgurator. Simon Hart, a French engineer posing as Roch's warder, is taken captive as well and must navigate the treacherous pirate island of Back Cup to thwart their plans.
Thomas Roch, a genius inventor driven mad by rejection, has created the fulgurator, a weapon of immense destructive power. While confined in a sanitarium, he is kidnapped by Count d'Artigas, who is secretly the pirate Ker Karraje, along with his warder Gaydon—actually French engineer Simon Hart in disguise. They are taken to the hidden volcanic island of Back Cup, where Ker Karraje commands a pirate colony. Hart maintains his disguise to observe and eventually escape, sending a message in a keg that alerts authorities. A naval expedition arrives, and Roch, initially willing to destroy the ships, hesitates upon seeing the French flag and destroys his invention instead. The pirates panic, and Hart is rescued, but Roch's fate remains ambiguous. The story explores themes of madness, piracy, technological destruction, and identity deception.
Reading guide
Go deeper in Facing the Flag
Character guides, themes, chapter companions — plus Character Web, narrative arc, and theme heatmap teasers that unlock fully beside the text in BetterReads.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
Captain Spade
The Ebba's silent, iron-willed commander, whose unerring seamanship and uncanny signalling apparatus make him Ker Karraje's most trusted hand.
Thomas Roch
A French inventor of a devastating secret weapon, whose brilliance flickers in and out of madness while pirates and governments circle his fulgurator.
Engineer Serko
Ker Karraje's polished, mocking lieutenant, an engineer whose cool irony and sharp mind make him the most dangerous man in Back Cup.
Ker Karraje
The legendary pirate who vanished from the Pacific with a fortune in plunder, now ruling a hidden island fortress under a nobleman's false name.
Count d'Artigas
A mysterious nobleman whose yacht Ebba glides on an inexplicable motor, and whose curiosity about Thomas Roch hides a far darker purpose.
Simon Hart
A French engineer posing as warder Gaydon at Healthful House, whose quiet vigilance over Roch becomes a desperate fight for survival and escape.
Madness and Genius
The book explores the thin line between inventive genius and insanity through Thomas Roch, whose obsessive fixation on his fulgurator leads to his confinement in Healthful House, yet his 'madness' is later weaponized by pirates for destruction.
Piracy and Criminality
The narrative centers on the pirate Ker Karraje and his band, who operate from the hidden island of Back Cup, engaging in kidnapping, theft, and murder, highlighting the theme of lawless criminal enterprise thriving in secret refuges.
Imprisonment and Escape
The protagonist Simon Hart is kidnapped and held captive in Back Cup, and the story follows his attempts to understand his surroundings, communicate with the outside world, and ultimately escape from the pirates' underground lair.
Technology and Destruction
Thomas Roch's fulgurator represents advanced military technology capable of immense destruction, and the book examines how such power can be exploited by criminals to dominate and annihilate, as seen in the destruction of a warship.