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Find out moreMark Twain is the pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 – 1910). He was born and brought up in the American state of Missouri and, because of his father’s death, he left school to earn his living when he was only twelve. He was a great adventurer and travelled round America as a printer; prospected for gold and set off for South America to earn his fortune. He returned to become a steam-boat pilot on the Mississippi River, close to where he had grown up. The Civil War put an end to steam-boating and Clemens briefly joined the Confederate army – although the rest of his family were Unionists! He had already tried his hand at newspaper reporting and now became a successful journalist. He started to use the alias Mark Twain during the Civil War and it was under this pen name that he became a famous travel writer. He took the name from his steam-boat days – it was the river pilots’ cry to let their men know that the water was two fathoms deep.
Mark Twain was always nostalgic about his childhood and in 1876 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published, based on his own experiences. The book was soon recognised as a work of genius and eight years later the sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was published. The great writer Ernest Hemingway claimed that 'All modern literature stems from this one book.'
Mark Twain was soon famous all over the world. He made a fortune from writing and lost it on a typesetter he invented. He then made another fortune and lost it on a bad investment. He was an impulsive, hot-tempered man but was also quite sentimental and superstitious. He was born when Halley’s Comet was passing the Earth and always believed he would die when it returned – this is exactly what happened.
Bring a timeless treasure from Mark Twain to another generation. Miffed about being made to whitewash the fence on a Sunday morning, Tom Sawyer tricks his friend to do the work for him, while he sits on the pavement, happily munching an apple. So begins the series of Tom's adventures and misadventures. Orphaned and staying with his Aunt Polly, the mischievous Tom manages to create quite a stir in the small village. He runs away to an uninhabited island, falls in love, digs up treasure, and saves an innocent man. The book will take older children through a journey of evolving friendships, budding romance, and thrilling adventures. European English spelling/language conventions
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March 2012 Guest Editor Alan Bradley on Mark Twain... The book. Ernest Hemingway wrote, “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called 'Huckleberry Finn.'” I believe he was understating the case. It was a family copy of Huckleberry Finn that first put my feet on the road to being a writer. Its glories have never dimmed.
A stunning new edition with deluxe cover treatments, ribbon markers, luxury endpapers and gilded edges. The unabridged text is accompanied by a Glossary of Victorian and Literary terms produced for the modern reader. One of the most beloved and influential books in American literature, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a comic yet incisive portrait of 19th century America. Told from the perspective of Huck Finn, a good-hearted if wayward thirteen-year-old, it vividly recounts his adventures as he escapes his abusive home and embarks on a journey down the Mississippi River along with Jim, a runaway slave. Through the eyes of Huck, and particularly his relationship with Jim, Twain confronts the hypocrisy of a society that clings to slavery and entrenched racial prejudice while claiming to be the land of the free. The FLAME TREE COLLECTABLE CLASSICS are chosen to create a delightful and timeless home library.
A fine exclusive edition of one of literature's most beloved stories. Featuring a laser-cut jacket on a textured book with foil stamping, all titles in this series will be first editions. No more than 10,000 copies will be printed, and each will be individually numbered from 1 to 10,000. * Now with bonus bookmark! When I got there it was all still and Sunday-like, and hot and sunshiny; the hands was gone to the fields; and there was that kind of faint dronings of bugs and lies in the air that makes it seem so lonesome and like everybody's dead and gone ... In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a thirteen-year-old boy, Huck, is in search of adventure on the beautiful shores of the Mississippi River. When Huck escapes kidnapping by his own drunken father, he decides to find a canoe to shove off down the river, leaving behind his life of confinement and civilization. Soon Huck comes across Jim, Miss Watson's slave. While traveling down the river, Huck and Jim have many adventures, but more importantly, during many long talks, they become the best of friends, both in search of freedom. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is regarded by many critics and scholars to be the first Great American novel . The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Seasons Edition--Summer) is one of four titles available in June 2020. The summer season also will include Jane Eyre, Persuasion, and The Wonderland Collection.
