Published with the novel A Floating City as a single volume in 1871, Jules Verne's The Blockade Runners is a novel based on a ship called the Dolphin, which worked as a Blockade Runner during the American Civil War. The story revolves around the protagonist, James Playfair and his voyages as he endeavors to break the blockades while traveling between Scotland and Southern states of USA. Starting as a mere tradesman, he finds himself in the thick of things as he tries to rescue a prisoner.