Mark Twain's Civil War

by Mark Twain, David Rachels (Editor)

This collection of Twain’s fiction and nonfiction on the subject “provides insight into the war’s influence on this great American writer” (The Post and Courier, Charleston).   Had there been no Civil War, the eminent American author known as Mark Twain would likely have spent his life as Sam Clemens, the Mississippi River steamboat pilot. When the war came and the steamboats stopped running, Clemens served two weeks in the Missouri State Guard before he fled west to begin his career as a writer.   After the Civil War dramatically altered the course of Twain’s life and career, his thoughts and stories about the war were published widely. Mark Twain’s Civil War marks the first opportunity for readers to survey the full range of his Civil War writings in one volume. The book contains autobiographical pieces as well as fiction, making it an enlightening read for both Twain enthusiasts and Civil War scholars.

Genres: Literature, Military Fiction, History, Short Stories

230 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 9, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you don't give your own book five stars, who will?

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although a fan of Twain's writing, I wasn't aware of the pivotal role that his brief, tangential experience in the Civil War had on his life and writings.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of Twain's works written about the Civil War, including two stories by other authors who were writing about Twain's "experiences" during the war (he enlisted for two weeks in the Missouri State Guard but saw no action, nor did he enlist for southern principles). The stories would be better served with a more historically-oriented context in the introduction; as is, it mentions briefly Missouri's 1861 role in the war and speculation regarding Twain's service (which admittedly we cannot known much about at this point). Still, more context on the timing and motivations of Twain's writings (literary analysis as well as historical perspective) would have added immensely to the value of this introduction and set a better stage for the works that follow.