Following the Equator and Anti-imperialist Essays (1897,1901,1905) (Oxford Mark Twain) [Hardcover]

Mark Twain (Author), Shelley Fisher Fishkin (Series Editor), Gore Vidal (Introduction), Fred Kaplan (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0195101510 | ISBN-13: 978-0195101515

In 1895, bankrupted by his investments in the doomed Paige typesetter and by the collapse of his publishing house, sixty-year-old Mark Twain was forced to embark on a world lecture tour to raise money to pay his growing debts. Following the Equator, Twain's final travel book, was the result. His readers circumnavigate the globe with one of the world's most entertaining travel companions--to Honolulu and the Fiji Islands, Sydney and Melbourne, Tasmania, Ceylon, Bombay, Calcutta, Cape Town and Johannesburg. Twain blends whimsical anecdote, sharp-eyed commentary, and serious social critique, assailing the contempt of whites for native traditions, and noting the striking similarity between slavery and the colonial experience. In "To the Person Sitting in Darkness" and "King Leopold's Soliloquy," also included in this volume, Twain strips the imperialist powers naked and bears eloquent witness to the unspeakable crimes they perpetrate in the name of what he calls the "Blessings-of-Civilization Trust."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 880 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (December 5, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195101510
• ISBN-13: 978-0195101515
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.5 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,279,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)