The American Claimant is an 1892 novel by Mark Twain. Twain wrote the novel with the help of phonographic dictation, the first author (according to Twain himself) to do so. This was also (according to Twain) an attempt to write a book without mention of the weather, the first of its kind in fictitious literature. Indeed, all the weather is contained in an appendix, at the back of the book, which the reader is encouraged to turn to from time to time.
The American Claimant is a comedy of mistaken identities and multiple role switches. Its cast of characters include an American enamored of British hereditary aristocracy and a British earl entranced by American democracy.

Автор: Марк Твен
Название: Том 7. Американский претендент, Том Сойер за границей, Простофиля Вильсон
Издательство: М.: Гослитиздат, 1960 г.
Серия: Марк Твен. Собрание сочинений в двенадцати томах
Формат: FB2
Страниц: 512
Размер: 1,87 Мб

В седьмой том Собрания сочинений вошли повести «Американский претендент», «Том Сойер за границей» и «Простофиля Вильсон».
В повести «Американский претендент», написанной Твеном в 1891 и опубликованной в 1892 году, читатель снова встречается с героями «Позолоченного века» (1874) — Селлерсом и Вашингтоном Хокинсом. Снова они носятся с проектами обогащения, принимающими на этот раз совершенно абсурдный характер.
Повесть «Том Сойер за границей», в большой мере представляющая собой экстравагантную шутку, по глубине и художественной силе слабее первых двух книг Твена о Томе и Геке. Но и в этом произведении читателя радуют блестки твеновского юмора и острые сатирические эпизоды.
Повесть «Простофиля Вильсон» — значительное произведение, в котором с большой силой и выразительностью показано разлагающее воздействие рабства на жизнь в США, развернута яркая картина быта затхлого провинциального городка — Пристани Доусона — и созданы яркие, запоминающиеся образы, особенно Вильсона и «белой» негритянки Роксаны.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is an 1889 novel by Mark Twain. The book was originally titled A Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Some early editions are titled A Yankee at the Court of King Arthur.
In the book, a Yankee engineer from Connecticut named Hank Morgan receives a severe blow to the head and is somehow transported in time and space to England during the reign of King Arthur. After some initial confusion and his capture by one of Arthur's knights, Hank realizes that he is actually in the past, and he uses his knowledge to make people believe that he is a powerful magician.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written throughout in vernacular English, characterized by local color regionalism. It is told in the first person by Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, the narrator of two other Twain novels (Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective) and a friend of Tom Sawyer. It is a direct sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
The book is noted for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River. Set in a Southern antebellum society that had ceased to exist about 20 years before the work was published, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an often scathing satire on entrenched attitudes, particularly racism.

Автор: Марк Твен
Название: Том 6. Приключения Гекльберри Финна, Янки из Коннектикута при дворе короля Артура
Издательство: М.: Гослитиздат, 1960 г.
Серия: Марк Твен. Собрание сочинений в двенадцати томах
Формат: FB2
Страниц: 656
Размер: 2,39 Мб

В шестой том Собрания сочинений вошли повести «Приключения Гекльберри Финна» и «Янки из Коннектикута при дворе короля Артура».
«Приключения Гекльберри Финна» — вершина творчества Твена. Положительные герои книги — Гек и негр Джим — по глубине и верности художественной характеристики принадлежат к лучшим его созданиям. Сатира и юмор насыщены социальным и психологическим содержанием.
Сюжет повести «Янки из Коннектикута при дворе короля Артура» — столкновение американца XIX столетия с феодальной цивилизацией — дает Твену множество поводов для остроумной критики «романтики средневековья» и служит неиссякаемым источником остропародийных и комических ситуаций. Однако далеко не во всех случаях, когда Твен противопоставляет высмеиваемым им средневеково-рыцарским обычаям обычаи современной Америки, ему удается одержать полную художественную победу.

A Tramp Abroad is a work of travel literature, including a mixture of autobiography and fictional events, by Mark Twain, published in 1880. The book details a journey by the author, with his friend Harris (a character created for the book, and based on his closest friend, Joseph Twichell), through central and southern Europe. While the stated goal of the journey is to walk most of the way, the men find themselves using other forms of transport as they traverse the continent. The book is the fourth of Mark Twain's six travel books published during his lifetime and is often thought to be an unofficial sequel to the first one, The Innocents Abroad.
As the two men make their way through Germany, the Alps, and Italy, they encounter situations made all the more humorous by their reactions to them. The narrator (Twain) plays the part of the American tourist of the time, believing that he understands all that he sees, but in reality understanding none of it.

The Prince and the Pauper is a novel by Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547, it tells the story of two young boys who are identical in appearance: Tom Canty, a pauper who lives with his abusive father in Offal Court off Pudding Lane in London, and Prince Edward, son of King Henry VIII.
Tom Canty, youngest son of a poor family living in Offal Court located in London, has always aspired to a better life, encouraged by the local priest, who has taught him to read and write. Loitering around the palace gates one day, he meets Edward Tudor, the Prince of Wales. Coming too close in his intense excitement, Tom is nearly caught and beaten by the Royal Guards. However, Edward stops them and invites Tom into his palace chamber. There, the two boys get to know one another. Fascinated by each other's life and their uncanny resemblance to each other and learning they were even born on the same day, they decide to switch places "temporarily." The Prince momentarily goes outside, quickly hiding an article of national importance, which the reader later learns is the Great Seal of England, but dressed as Tom, he is not recognized by the guards, who drive him from the palace, and he eventually finds his way through the streets to the Canty home. There, he is subjected to the brutality of Tom's alcoholic and abusive father, from whom he manages to escape, and meets one Miles Hendon, a soldier and nobleman returning from war. Although Miles does not believe Edward's claims to royalty, he humors him and becomes his protector. Meanwhile, news reaches them that King Henry VIII has died and Edward is now the King.

Автор: Марк Твен
Название: Том 5. Пешком по Европе, Принц и нищий
Издательство: М.: Гослитиздат, 1960 г.
Серия: Марк Твен. Собрание сочинений в двенадцати томах
Формат: FB2
Страниц: 672
Размер: 2,82 Мб

В пятый том Собрания сочинений вошли роман «Принц и нищий» и книга путевых очерков «Пешком но Европе».
Книга путевых очерков «Пешком но Европе» возникла в результате поездки за границу, предпринятой Твеном в 1878 году. Похождения горе-туристов, которые пользуются каждым удобным случаем, чтобы избежать трудностей пешеходного маршрута и путешествуют «пешком» то в поезде, то в экипаже, то на плоту, дают писателю повод для многих комических характеристик.
Действие «Принца и нищего» происходит в феодальной Англии середины XVI века. Как можно судить по общему замыслу «Принца и нищего» и в особенности по некоторым полемическим примечаниям автора, Твен ставил себе целью обличение несправедливости и жестокости феодальных общественных порядков Старого Света.

Life on the Mississippi is a memoir by Mark Twain of his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War, and also a travel book, recounting his trip along the Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans many years after the War.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1840s in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy. In the novel Tom has several adventures, often with his friend, Huck. One such adventure, Tom's whitewashing of a fence, has been adapted into paintings and referenced in other pieces of popular culture. Originally a commercial failure the book ended up being the best selling of any of Twain's works during his lifetime.