A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court (Books of Wonder)

Twain, Mark

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688063462 ISBN 13: 9780688063467

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1988

Generations of readers have delighted in the biting social satire and hilarious adventures of the Connecticut Yankee, a nineteenth-century mechanic who suffers a blow to the head and wakes up in King Arthur's Britain. The Yankee soon realizes this is not the gallant world of fairy tales, but a cruel, feudalistic society. Ever resourceful, he sets out to modernize and improve things through an ingenious and funny mix of magic and technology, chivalry and sheer tomfoolery. All the trappings of Arthurian legend are here, from damsels in distress to quests and exciting jousts. But who ever heard of knights riding bicycles, or telephones at Camelot? Mark Twain's humorous yet moving classic now features magnificent illustrations by Caldecott medalist Trina Schart Hyman in a beautiful gift edition that all readers will enjoy.

Review:

"The Yankee is a jewel. Nobody will ever be able to read, much less teach, it without this book." - American Literature "Each additional volume reaffirms our faith and celebration in this splendid series." Nineteenth-Century Fiction "Any academic who assigns another text rather than one of the... volumes now available in the Mark Twain Library owes the profession an apology if it can be found." American Literature "Handsome, readable and full of surprises...the American classics that come to us from the Mark Twain Library are simply superb." - Jonathan Kirsch, Los Angeles Times "The Mark Twain Project of the University of California Press is reuniting Samuel Clemens's texts with the essential illustrations he commissioned for them, and the results are splendid: may the Twain never again be sundered!" - Cathleen Medwick, Vanity Fair "If you want to enjoy, and to understand fully, the genius of Mark Twain, the California editions are the only texts to have." - Michael Shelden, London Telegraph

From the Back Cover:

In this classic satiric novel, published in 1889, Hank Morgan, a supervisor in a Connecticut gun factory, falls unconscious after being whacked on the head. When he wakes up and finds himself in Britain in 528, he is immediately captured, hauled back to Camelot, and sentenced to death.
But Hank is a quick-witted and enterprising fellow, and in the process of saving his life he turns himself into a celebrity of the highest magnitude. His Yankee ingenuity and knowledge of the world beyond the Dark Ages are regarded as the most powerful sorcery--winning him the eternal enmity of a jealous Merlin. In an effort to bring democratic principles and mechanical knowledge to the kingdom, Hank introduces newspapers, telephones, bicycles, and other modern conveniences to the Dark Ages. But when he tries to improve the lot of the common people, chaos and war result, giving a bittersweet tone to this comic masterpiece by one of America's greatest storytellers.