The Steam House (original: “La Maison à Vapeur”) was written by Jules Verne and first appeared in Magasin d’Education et de Recreation (Dec 1, 1879-Dec 15, 1880). The French Verne (1828-1905) is, with H.G. Wells, the man responsible for modern science fiction. In some ways his work was surprisingly accurate in its predictions, and his prose can still be read with pleasure.

The Steam House is a gigantic mechanical elephant propelled by a powerful steam engine. The Steam House is built by the Scottish engineer Banks, whose friend Colonel Edward Munro wanted to travel across India without having to rely upon the railway. Banks builds the Steam House, and he, Munro, and their friends travel around India, sightseeing and hunting as they go. Unfortunately, the time is 1865, and Nana Sahib (see: “Voracious Albion”) still remembers the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and is plotting a new uprising. Nana particularly has it in for Col. Munro, who committed various atrocities against Nana's family and friends. (The English are not the good guys in The Steam House). Munro, in turn, hates Nana, because he incorrectly believes that Nana murdered his wife. Munro takes the Steam House across India, and it proves to be a reliable and useful vehicle, but when the Indians attack Munro and his friends are forced to abandon the Steam House, and the Indians blow it up. (Munro eventually escapes and Nana is killed).

The Steam House is not particularly memorable as fiction—it is not among Verne’s better novels—but it did have some influence on American dime novel writers (see: The Edisonade). Luis Senarens (see: The Frank Reade Adventures), among others, was influenced by Verne’s work, especially Robur the Conqueror, but the zoomorphic dime novel science fiction story, as seen in Robert Toombs’ Electric Bob Adventures, springs almost entirely from The Steam House.

The Steam House is most interesting as an expression of Verne’s dire opinion of the British Empire:

Despite his celebration of the important role of the innovative railway in the novel, Jules Verne is very critical of British colonialism: he sees 1857 as evidence of the superior character of the French colonial system. My project here is to consider the ways in which Verne criticizes British colonialism and how he eventually comes to side with the system, which he seems to have understood, in spite of its flaws. Through his novel, the author showcases his own reading of the revolt and proves that the reasons for this mutiny are quite unclear. He points out that British colonialism, which, according to him, is based on harshness, compares unfavourably with French rule, which is more respectful of human rights.¹

Aside from the stereotypical images of Indian fanaticism that are liberally scattered throughout the text to color its scenes, it is Verne’s subtle representation of Nana Sahib that is of specific interest here. It is this that reveals an embedded desire to undermine the confidence of British colonial rhetoric in an era of ever-increasing colonial competition for new territories and particularly those located on the African continent.²

Print: Jules Verne, Works of Jules Verne: The Giant Raft and The Steam House. Rockville, MD: Wildside Press, 2012.

¹ Akiya Touadi, “Jules Verne and 1857: From French Criticism of British Colonialism to a Franco-British Reconciliation,” in Rosemary Mitchell, ed., Mutual (In)Comprehensions: France and Britain in the Long Nineteenth Century (Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013), 180.

² Nicola Frith, The French Colonial Imagination: Writing the Indian Uprisings, 1857-1858, From Second Empire to Third Republic (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014), 87.