"What Is Man?" is a short story by Mark Twain, published in 1906. It is a dialogue between a Young Man and an Old Man regarding the nature of man. The title refers to Psalm 8:4, which begins "what is man, that you are mindful of him...".
It involves ideas of determinism and free will, as well as of psychological egoism. The Old Man asserts that the human being is merely a machine, and nothing more, driven by the singular purpose to satisfy his own desires and achieve peace of mind. The Young Man objects, and asks him to go into particulars and furnish his reasons for his position.

The £1,000,000 Bank Note and Other New Stories is an 1893 collection of short stories by American writer Mark Twain. The collection was published in 1893, in a disastrous decade for the United States, a time marked by doubt and waning optimism, rapid immigration, labor problems, and the rise of political violence and social protest. It was also a difficult time for Twain personally, as he was forced into bankruptcy and devastated by the death of his favorite daughter, Suzy. Yet the title story still brims with confidence and optimism, marking the moment of hope just before Twain turned to the grim stories of his later years.

Автор: Марк Твен
Название: Том 10. Рассказы, Очерки, Публицистика, 1863-1893
Издательство: М.: Гослитиздат, 1961 г.
Серия: Марк Твен. Собрание сочинений в двенадцати томах
Формат: FB2
Страниц: 736
Размер: 2,53 Мб

В десятый том включены избранные рассказы, фельетоны, очерки, речи, статьи и памфлеты Марка Твена, опубликованные с 1863 по 1893 год. В книгу вошло также несколько произведений писателя, напечатанных после его смерти, но написанных в течение того же тридцатилетия.
Немногочисленные литературные произведения Марка Твена, которые исследователям удалось разыскать в американских газетах и журналах 50-х годов прошлого столетия, существенной художественной ценности не представляют и в данное собрание сочинений не включены.

The Mysterious Stranger is a novel attempted by the American author Mark Twain. He worked on it intermittently from 1897 through 1908. Twain wrote multiple versions of the story; each involves a supernatural character called "Satan" or "No. 44". All the versions remained unfinished (with the debatable exception of the last one, No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger).

Following the Equator (sometimes titled More Tramps Abroad) is a non-fiction social commentary in the form of a travelogue published by Mark Twain in 1897.
Twain was practically bankrupt in 1894 due to a failed investment into a "revolutionary" typesetting machine. In an attempt to extricate himself from debt of $100,000 (equivalent of about $2.5 million in 2010) he undertook a tour of the British Empire in 1895 at age 60, a route chosen to provide numerous opportunities for lectures in English.

Автор: Марк Твен
Название: Том 9. По экватору. Таинственный незнакомец
Издательство: М.: Гослитиздат, 1961 г.
Серия: Марк Твен. Собрание сочинений в двенадцати томах
Формат: FB2
Страниц: 704
Размер: 2,64 Мб

В девятый том Собрания сочинений вошли роман «По экватору» и повесть «Таинственный незнакомец».
В своем романе «По экватору» автор рассказывает о своем путешествии от берегов Америки в Австралию, затем в Индию и Южную Африку. Это своего рода дневник путешественника, написанный в художественной форме. Повествование ведется от первого лица. Автор рассказывает об увиденном им, запомнившемся так образно, как если бы читающий сам побывал в этом далеком путешествии.
В опубликованном варианте повести «Таинственный незнакомец» действие происходит в Австрии шестнадцатого века, в деревушке Эзельдорф (Ослиная деревня). Таинственный герой повести, который называет себя Сатаной и обладает чудесной, сверхъестественной силой, вмешивается в жизнь обитателей Эзельдорфа, погрязших в корыстных интересах, убогих верованиях, жестоких и нелепых предрассудках.

Tom Sawyer, Detective is an 1896 novel by Mark Twain. It is a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), and Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894). Tom Sawyer attempts to solve a mysterious murder in this burlesque of the immensely popular detective novels of the time. Like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the story is told using the first-person narrative voice of Huck Finn.

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte is an 1896 novel by Mark Twain that recounts the life of Joan of Arc. It is Twain's last completed novel, published when he was 61 years old.
The novel is presented as a translation (by "Jean Francois Alden") of memoirs by Louis de Conte, a fictionalized version of Louis de Contes, Joan of Arc's page. The novel is divided into three sections according to Joan of Arc's development: a youth in Domremy, a commander of the army of Charles VII of France, and a defendant at trial in Rouen.
Originally, the novel was published as a serialization in Harper's Magazine beginning in April 1895. Twain, aware of his reputation as a comic, asked that each installment appear anonymously so that readers would treat the piece seriously. Regardless, his authorship soon became known, and the book edition published by Harper and Brothers in May 1896 credited Mark Twain.

Автор: Марк Твен
Название: Том 8. Личные воспоминания о Жанне Д`Арк сьера Луи Де Конта, ее пажа и секретаря, Том Сойер — сыщик
Издательство: М.: Гослитиздат, 1960 г.
Серия: Марк Твен. Собрание сочинений в двенадцати томах
Формат: FB2
Страниц: 488
Размер: 1,82 Мб

В восьмой том Собрания сочинений вошли исторический роман «Личные воспоминания о Жанне Д`Арк» и повесть «Том Сойер — сыщик».
Жанна Д`Арк во многом близка прежним любимым героям Твена, таким же безродным плебеям, — Тому Кенти, Геку Финну, коннектикутскому янки. Твен любуется нравственной цельностью ее характера, ее целомудренностью и волей к борьбе, ее ясным умом и житейской мудростью, позволившими этой семнадцатилетней девочке из деревенского захолустья вести к победам французскую армию, вопреки придворным интригам и проискам предателей-вельмож.
В основу сюжета повести «Том Сойер — сыщик» Твен положил запутанное происшествие, послужившее поводом к сенсационному уголовному процессу в Скандинавии XVII века. Автор перенес события на американскую почву, сделав их участниками Тома, Гека и группу других персонажей, уже знакомых читателям «Приключений Гекльберри Финна».

Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894) is a novel by Mark Twain. Its central intrigue revolves around two boys — one, born into slavery, with 1/32 black ancestry; the other, white, born to be the master of the house. The two boys, who look similar, are switched at infancy. Each grows into the other's social role.
The story was serialized in The Century Magazine (1893–4), before being published as a novel in 1894.
Twain originally envisioned the characters of Luigi and Angelo Capello as conjoined twins, modeled after the late-19th century Italian conjoined twins Giovanni and Giacomo Tocci. He planned for them to be the central characters of a novel to be titled Those Extraordinary Twins. During the writing process, however, Twain realized that secondary characters such as Pudd'nhead Wilson, Roxy, and Tom Driscoll were taking a more central role in the story. More importantly, he found that the serious tone of the story of Roxy and Tom clashed unpleasantly with the light tone of the twins' story.