It is 1865. Impey Barbicane and J.T. Maston are very good with guns and explosives, and want to do something important — so they decide to build a big gun and use it to go to the Moon. But no-one has gone to the Moon before, and many people, like the great Captain Nicholl, believe that it cannot be done. What will happen when Barbicane and Nicholl meet? And will the men who try to go to the Moon come back alive?