Mark Twain Works

Mark Twain’s Most Famous Books

1869
The Innocents Abroad
Mark Twain’s account‚ adapted from his own newspaper
reports‚ of his adventures traveling through Europe and the
Middle East with other Americans. Voyaging on the steamship
Quaker City‚ the sightseers first make stops in Europe‚
including Paris‚ Milan‚ Venice‚ Florence‚ Rome and Athens.
Their journey culminates in an extended trip through the Holy
Land and Egypt. Throughout the book‚ Twain lampoons the
meeting of these pilgrims from the New World‚ filled with a
pretentious reverence and awe‚ with the hallowed culture of
the Old World‚ often represented by Twain as not equaling its
reputation.
 1872
Roughing It
In 1861‚ a 25 year-old Sam Clemens‚ having left his
job as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River
because of the outbreak of the Civil War‚ set out by
stagecoach with his older brother‚ Orion‚ for the
Nevada Territory. Roughing It‚ part autobiography‚
part travelogue‚ part tall tale‚ is Twain’s account of
the people and places he experienced when he and
the American West still were young.
 1873
The Gilded Age
The Gilded Age‚ which Twain wrote in collaboration
with his Hartford neighbor Charles Dudley Warner‚
gave its name to the mood of materialistic excess
and cynical political corruption that started with the
Grant administration in 1869 and prevailed into the
1870s and beyond. To be “gilded” is to be coated in
gold‚ so the phrase “The Gilded Age” refers directly
to the opulent tastes and jaded sensibilities of
America’s wealthy during this period.
 1876
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
From the Preface: “Most of the adventures recorded in
this book really occurred; one or two were experiences
of my own‚ the rest those of boys who were
schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom
Sawyer also‚ but not from an individual – he is a
combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I
knew‚ and therefore belongs to the composite order of
architecture… Part of my plan has been to try to
pleasantly remind adults of what they once were
themselves‚ and of how they felt and thought and
talked‚ and what queer enterprises they sometimes
engaged in.”
 1880
A Tramp Abroad
The third of the five travel books authored by Mark Twain.
A Tramp Abroad contains the experiences of Twain’s
“walking” tour of Germany‚ Switzerland and France. Typical
of Twain’s style in drafting travel novels‚ A Tramp Abroad
places Twain as the narrator of an oftentimes uninformed
American tourist visiting and discovering the mysteries of
the European continent – a wonderful satire for those who
have visited Europe or are planning a trip to “the
continent.”
 1881
The Prince and the Pauper
Edward Tudor and Tom Canty are the same age and share the
same features‚ but one of them is a pauper’s child and the other
is the heir to the throne of England. When chance brings the
boys together‚ they decide for fun to switch clothes‚ but fate
suddenly casts them into each other’s worlds. Tom learns what
is to be caught in the pomp and folly of the royal court and the
young prince learns what it is to survive in the lower depths of
16th-century English society. Through the switched identities
Mark Twain has fashioned both a scathing attack on social
hypocrisy and injustice‚ and an irresistible comedy imbued with
the sense of spirited play that belongs to this creative period.
 1883
Life on the Mississippi
This was Mark Twain’s seminal work on the river
that gave birth to much of his most successful
fiction. Entertaining‚ yet enlightening‚ Life on the
Mississippi is a textbook on the history‚ life and
lore of the Great River during the 19th century‚
but also a primer on the “science” of the piloting
the Mississippi during the heyday of the great
steamboats that once traveled the greatest
inland waterway of America.
 1884
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain’s classic novel‚ Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn‚ tells the story of a teenage misfit who finds
himself floating on a raft down the Mississippi River
with an escaping slave‚ Jim. In the course of their
perilous journey‚ Huck and Jim meet with adventure‚
danger‚ and a cast of characters who are sometimes
menacing and often hilarious. Although the story was
mostly written in the 1880s‚ it is set in the time of
slavery prior to the Civil War. Twain uses Huck’s
predicaments to illustrate the failure of reconstruction
in the post-Civil War South
 1889
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
Hank Morgan‚ superintendent at the Colt Firearms Factory in
Hartford‚ Connecticut‚ is knocked unconscious in a fight. He wakes up
in the time of King Arthur. Hank introduces such innovations as
schools‚ factories‚ bicycles and gunpowder. At first‚ Hank is convinced
that his ideas will do the citizens of Arthur’s court good‚ but as he
takes command he turns more and more to violence and loses control
of the results of his entrepreneurial efforts. A Connecticut Yankee was
one of the last large-scale novels Mark Twain produced and its dark‚
cynical themes foreshadow ideas he would delve into more deeply in
much of his later work
 1893/1905
The Diaries of Adam and Eve
Extracts from Adam’s Diary (1893) is a witty and whimsical
look at the Biblical creation story and Adam’s adventures as
he explores his new world. Twain uses this work as a forum
to express his irreverent thoughts on conventional religion.
By contrast‚ Eve’s Diary (1905) is Twain’s tribute to his
beloved wife‚ Livy. The story from Eve’s viewpoint speaks
eloquently of kindness and human goodness – overall‚ a
commentary on Livy’s gentle nature. Adam’s last words at
Eve’s grave are: “Wheresoever she was‚ there was Eden.”
 1894
The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson
A murder mystery set in a town on the Mississippi featuring
strong and weak characters‚ some black and some white. The
book has a strong female character‚ unusual in Mark Twain’s
writing. While trying to solve the mystery you will enjoy reading
great quotes at the beginning of each Chapter from
Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar such as: “Why is it that we
rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral?”
 1896
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
Twain said he regarded this work as his best: his version of
the story of the Maid of Orleans who‚ in 1429‚ at the age
of 17‚ led a French rebellion against English domination.
She was tried for witchcraft and heresy by French priests‚
supporters of the English‚ and burned at the stake. Twain
viewed Joan of Arc as his bid to be considered a “serious”
writer. Joan is considered to be Twain’s ideal woman:
gentle‚ selfless and pure‚ but also courageous and
eloquent. Twain’s Joan is said to be modeled after his
oldest daughter‚ Susy‚ who died tragically three months
after Joan of Arc was published
 1897
Following the Equator
Twain’s fifth and last travel book is a relatively
straightforward narrative of his round-the-world lecture tour
of 1895-96. It includes discussions of Australian history and
economic development‚ Asian culture‚ British rule in India
and South African politics. It contains many humorous
passages‚ but is generally more serious in tone than the
author’s earlier travel works.h text
 1916
The Mysterious Stranger
An adult tale set in a medieval European village‚ The
Mysterious Stranger tells of some boys who encounter
a young stranger who performs wonderful feats of
magic and shows the boys different times and places in
mankind’s history. The stranger turns out to be a
nephew of Satan. In this work‚ not published during his
lifetime and not in its entirety for decades after his
death‚ Twain explored and explained his feelings about
religion and faith‚ good and evil.