Mark Twain (2)

On Europe

ISBN: 9781843916215

Author: Mark Twain    Publisher: Hesperus Press

‘In a little while we were speeding through the streets of Paris and delightfully recognizing certain names and places with which books had long ago made us f...


‘In a little while we were speeding through the streets of Paris and delightfully recognizing certain names and places with which books had long ago made us familiar. It was like meeting an old friend when we read Rue de Rivoli on the street corner; we knew the genuine vast palace of the Louvre as well as we knew its picture; when we passed by the Column of July we needed no one to tell us what it was or to remind us that on its site once stood the grim Bastille, that grave of human hopes and happiness...’

This is a brand new selection of Mark Twain’s views on Europe and the Europeans, taken from several volumes of travelogues recounting his journeys across the continent with wit, vivacity and humour. Few fellow travellers, locals or ideologies are left unscathed. Uproariously funny at times and often cutting with his remarks, Twain always seems to pull it back from the brink and err on the side humour rather than offence. Throughout France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, the food, the language, the customs and the people, no subject escapes analysis of the most amusing kind.

In addition, On Europe provides a captivating snapshot into life late nineteenth-century Europe – Twain’s writing documents the political zeitgeist of a changing era. The author also takes the opportunity to lambast fellow travel writers, lampooning their overwrought style and grandiose emotional outpourings. Following the age-old tradition of new-world travellers returning to the old world, Twain’s account features the usual blend of awe and disillusionment which met Americans in equal measure when confronted with lands so steeped in history and legend and yet now in the grip of modernity.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 120


Publication Date: 29-03-2013


$24.99
The Prince and the Pauper

ISBN: 9781843915034

Author: Mark Twain    Publisher: Hesperus Press

Two boys from two different walks of life change places and alter their paths forever in this American classic from Mark TwainLondon, 1547. Two boys meet by cha...


Two boys from two different walks of life change places and alter their paths forever in this American classic from Mark TwainLondon, 1547. Two boys meet by chance and strike up a conversation at the gates of a palace. Tom Canty is a poor young boy with few prospects in life; his new friend happens to be Prince Edward VI, the Prince of Wales. The prince and the pauper could not be more different from one another, except for the small fact that they look identical. When Tom admires the prince's fine garments, he and Prince Edward decide on the spur of the moment to swap clothes. But with cruel irony the prince is mistaken for a poor beggar in Tom's rags and kicked out of his own palace while Tom is taken to be the prince by everyone he meets. Suddenly the prince and the pauper have swapped not only clothes but also their homes, families, lives, and their very identities. While the boys are eager to learn about life in someone else's shoes, they ultimately want to return to their own homes and families. But this proves to be a tall order when nobody believes the prince's claims that he is really a prince despite being clothed in rags. This gripping tale of mistaken identity sees Mark Twain venturing into historical fiction for children while displaying his typical flair for witty dialogue and incisive satire.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 280


Publication Date: 26-05-2014


Tag: Classics
$21.99
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