Mark Twain

This series provides an introduction to the life and work of selected writers. Each book aims to encourage a critical understanding of the major texts that students are most likely to encounter. These are viewed in relation to the writer's life and literary career, and to the social and political context of the day. By using extensive quotations, carefully chosen illustrations and clearly presented critical analyses, it is hoped that this series will be a valuable aid to GCSE English. Printer, steamboat pilot, prospector, journalist and entrepreneur, Mark Twain was the most popular American author of the late nineteenth century. Famous for his wit and his own special brand of humour, in the books for which he is chiefly remembered, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", he recreated the rich and varied scenes of his own boyhood spent at Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks of the "great Mississippi". A complex character, Mark Twain was driven by a strong sense of ambition. Although widely known as a funny man, he nevertheless suffered from strong feelings of guilt and insecurity.
In this book, the author charts the extraordianry career of a man who, despite his joy in living, ended his life bitter and disillusioned.