In 1873 French author Jules Verne wrote one of the most popular adventure novels ever written- around the world in eighty days. It was a product of its time, and sparked an extraordinary race to beat that record.
The “Great Sedition Trial” uncovered shocking connections at the time with the German reich that we were fighting, and challenged the idea that the nation was of a single mind during the war. It also challenged exactly how far the national commitment to freedom of speech and opinion reached, especially in extraordinary times.