INTRODUCTION

Among the juvénile writers of France there is probably none whose réputation is so firmly established as that of cFules Verne.

Bom at Nantes, in the old province of Brittany, în 1828, he is stiU living, still working; indeed, for abnost half a century he has been producing stories that hâve delighted his thousands of readers — ^not only those of the younger génération, but also those of more mature years. His complète works comprise more than sixty volumes, and although many of them are replète with thrilling incidents and humorous touches, there is probably none that can appeal to American pupils so strongly as Les Farceurs de Blocus, connected as it is with the most stirring period of our history.

It was first published by Hetzel & Co., in 1871, and has since gone through several éditions.

The text as hère edited has been left untouched.

It has been provided with f ull notes and a complète vocabulary, including irregular forms of verbs.

vi LES FORCEURS DE BLOCUS

thus bringing this eharming story within the reach of beginners. It is thought that this text can be taken up during the second half of the first year or at the beginning of the second^ according to the âge and grade of pupils.

It would be both useless and unadvisable to gîve hère an exhaustive list of Jules Veme^s works, but the titles of his best-known stories and the year of their publication are hère appended: Cinq Semaines en Ballon (1863); De la Terre à la Lune (1865); Ayentures du Capitaine Hatteras (1866); Vingt Mille Lieues sous les Mers (1869-'70); Une ViUe flottante (1871); Le Tour du Monde en quatre-vingts Jours (1873); Michel Strogoflf (1876); L'Archipel en Feu (1884); Claudius

Bombamac (1892)^ etc.