| Synopsis: |
Hank Morgan, nineteenth-century New Englander, is knocked on the head with a crowbar and wakes up to find himself in sixth century England, during the reign of King Arthur. Ever resourceful, he determines to be boss of the entire country within three weeks, and with his use of the 'great and beneficent' miracles of nineteenth-century engineering, he triumphs. Hank's efforts to modernize Camelot by organizing a school system, constructing telephone lines, and inventing the printing press bring some unexpected results. A witty, often hilarious social satire that exposes utopian and romantic ideals and provides a disturbing analysis of the benefits of progress and dissolution of social more, this is Twain's most ambitious work; a literary tour de force. Included in this edition are the original illustrations by Daniel Carter Beard, which Mark Twain praised as "better than the book--which is a good deal for me to say, I reckon." |