Al-Warraq Library does not host book files; it takes you to the copy at the original source. Public-domain status differs from country to country, so check the law where you live before downloading or republishing the book. Do you hold rights in this work? Request its removal
In 1867 Mark Twain joined a group of American tourists aboard the steamship Quaker City for a five-month tour of Europe, Egypt and the Holy Land, sending…
In 1867 Mark Twain joined a group of American tourists aboard the steamship Quaker City for a five-month tour of Europe, Egypt and the Holy Land, sending letters to newspapers along the way. This book collects and reworks them: Paris and the Italian galleries, the Sphinx, Constantinople, the long ride through Palestine, and everywhere the pious, guidebook-quoting passengers he calls the pilgrims.
Context and significance
It was Twain's best-selling book during his lifetime. Its pleasure lies in his refusal to admire what he is told to admire, and in the honesty with which he describes being tired, bored or moved. Travel writing changed after it, and it still reads fresher than most modern travel guides.
About the author
Samuel Clemens (1835–1910) grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi, and worked as a printer's apprentice, a steamboat pilot, a silver prospector in Nevada and a newspaper reporter before he became Mark Twain. A comic story about a jumping frog made his name in 1865, and his lectures and travel books made him the most famous American writer of his time.