Wonderful description of a possible future as seen from the turn of the 19th century. It is, as is often with science fiction, a reflection on the folly of mankind. How do we see ourselves, how do we describe the doings of the human race to a vastly more intelligent alien being? The population of the moon is not impressed! The story is a hundred years old, but the author has a real grasp of the scientific principles which, half a century later, were to guide the first real astronauts. Part of the charm of the book is the description of the meeting of the characters, the conception and construction of a 19th century space-craft in a back-yard in Kent, and the invention of the amazing motive power for it . We 21st century technocrats smile at the author's ideas for the equippage of this spacecraft, yet it all serves its purpose and we arrive on the moon. As the story unwinds, a fantastic new world is revealed, populated by even more fantastic beings. As the heroes explain themselves and their intrusion, the reader is led to see what folly is mankind and his doings on this planet., in a narative which, I stress, is over a hundred years old. The story ends with an escape to earth, or not, and is neatly rounded off by an unfortunate accident by a meddling boy.