"Nothing could be done. The thing was universal and beyond our human knowledge or control. It was death - painless but inevitable - death for young and old, for weak and strong, for rich and poor, without hope or possibility of escape." Just returned from his famous adventure in the Lost World, the resourceful Professor George Challenger faces his greatest danger yet: the planet will pass through a belt of poisonous ether, and mankind might not survive. Despite the professor's dire warnings about the coming catastrophe, no one listens. As the poison enters the atmosphere, terror and madness sweep the globe. Cities are wracked by riots, societies crumble, and soon all communication ceases. Professor Challenger and his friends, barricaded in a sealed room, can only watch their planet die. The Poison Belt stands as one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's finest stories. A first-rate sequel to The Lost World, this novel continues the adventures of one of the most memorable characters in speculative fiction. Brilliant, witty, insufferable, and blessed with a booming voice and a huge black beard, Professor George Challenger is an eccentric and able champion of the human race.