Mark Twain in Context

Description

Mark Twain In Context provides the fullest introduction in one volume to the multifaceted life and times of one of the most celebrated American writers. It is a collection of short, lively contributions covering a wide range of topics on Twain's life and works. Twain lived during a time of great change, upheaval, progress, and challenge. He rose from obscurity to become what some have called 'the most recognizable person on the planet'. Beyond his contributions to literature, which were hugely important and influential, he was a businessman, an inventor, an advocate for social and political change, and ultimately a cultural icon. Placing his life and work in the context of his age reveals much about both Mark Twain and America in the last half of the nineteenth century, the twentieth century, and the first decades of the twenty-first century.

John Bird is Professor of English at Winthrop University. He is the author of Mark Twain and Metaphor (2007). He is a former president of the Mark Twain Circle of America and the founding editor of The Mark Twain Annual. Since 2011, he has written the Mark Twain chapter in American Literary Scholarship.

'Mark Twain in Context is a treasure trove of information ... It is an ideal collection for undergraduates and readers new to Twain, but those with more experience are also likely to find it of much use ... all the chapters are excellent, well-researched introductions to the various ways Twain was a man of his time and remains relevant in the present time.' J. W. Miller, Choice