Around the World in 72 Days

Nellie Bly was one of America’s best-known female journalists in the 19th century. She was a pioneer in the field of investigative journalism and gained fame going undercover as a patient in an insane asylum and by setting a world’s record racing around the world. Inspired by Jules Verne’s bestselling novel Around the World in 80 Days, Bly set out to better Verne’s fictional hero Phileas Fogg by traveling the 25,000 mile journey around the world in less than 80 days. Her travels were chronicled by her newspaper, the New York World. Up until this time, circling the world in such a short time had never actually been attempted. Hearing of Bly’s around the world attempt, a competing newspaper the Cosmopolitan, sponsored its own reporter to beat the times of both Fogg and Bly. The race was on. Setting off on the same day, both reporters took advantage of any and all modes of travel available to them in the 1880s. Bly traveled from New York to Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, and across the American frontier completing the race in just 72 days beating her rival and establishing a world’s record. This book chronicles her travels and adventures as she emulates Fogg’s harried race around the world.