This famous short story written by Jules Verne in 1865 was first published in 1871. The Blockade Runners is a classic account of The American civil war conspiracy which centers on the exploits of James Playfair who must stop the Federalist blockade of the harbor of Charleston in South Carolina harbor to deal supplies for cotton and, later in the book, to save the father of a young girl held prisoner by the Confederates. Verne's tale was motivated by reality as various ships were actually lost while acting as Blockade runners in and around Charleston in the early eighteen sixties.