From the Earth to the Moon (Annotated with Biography of Verne and Plot Analysis‪)‬

From the Earth to the Moon, published in 1865, was one of the first science fiction novels ever in print, but it is also one of the first ones with humor.  The setting is Baltimore, Maryland and the Civil War has just ended.  The Americans have developed interesting weaponry, including guns, and without a war to fight, they want to find something to do with their new technology – and they decide to form a Gun Club.  The president is one Impey Barbicane, a cool customer of forty and a veteran on the Union side in the recent war between the States.  Barbicane has come up with an idea – with their new technology and American know-how, surely they could launch a cannonball to the moon.