Around the World with Citizen Train: The Sensational Adventures of the Real Phileas Fogg - Hardcover

In July 1870 George Francis Train set out on one of the most famous journeys ever made. He travelled around the world in eighty days, not counting an unavoidable spell in a French prison. It was an extraordinary achievement in an era of sailing ships, horse-drawn transport and steam locomotives. Train's feat provided the inspiration for Jules Verne's fictional character Phileas Fogg in the famous novel Around the World in Eighty Days. Train was not pleased. "He stole my thunder," he protested. "I'm Phileas Fogg."
George Train, a dark, handsome American, propelled by what he called his "psychic forces", was 41 years of age when he first circled the globe. He completed the journey three times in his life and finally, at the age of 63, in a mere 60 days.
Train moved in the best circles all over the globe, from the court of Emperor Napoleon III in France to Russia to meet Grand Duke Constantine. He persuaded the Queen of Spain to finance the ambitious Atlantic and Great Western railway in America and promoted the first horse-drawn tramways in Britain in the face of major opposition. He was thrown in prison many times for spurious reasons, accused of being a spy and was once acquitted of manslaughter; newspapers of the day argued about whether he was a genius or a lunatic.
Eventually his millions were frittered away and he retired to a park bench in New York to become a philosopher. His last days were spent feeding squirrels and playing with the local children. When he died beggars and industrialists stood side by side paying tribute to him and to his remarkable achievements.