Before his literary career took off and he emerged as one of America's foremost men of letters, Mark Twain worked as a steamboat pilot in the antebellum South and Midwest. This fascinating account offers a brief history of commercial boating in the period and a probing, insightful, and eminently entertaining look at Twain's own experiences.

Known as one of American literature's finest humor writers, Mark Twain took on the travel genre in the series of essays, sketches, and observations collected in The Innocents Abroad. From classic fish-out-of-water shenanigans to keen insight into the differences between American culture and its European and Middle Eastern counterparts, this volume is an engaging and rewarding read.

Tom Sawyer, Detective follows Twain's popular novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Tom Sawyer Abroad. In this novel, Tom turns detective, trying to solve a murder. Twain plays with and celebrates the detective novel, wildly popular at the time. This novel, like the others, is told through the first-person narrative of Huck Finn.

In How to Tell a Story and Other Essays, iconic American author Mark Twain discusses his own experience as a writer and his personal style. In various essays in the collection he attacks a contemporary of his, defends a maligned dead woman and defends ordinary citizens against the insults of train conductors.

Following the Equator is an account by Mark Twain of his travels through the British Empire in 1895. He chose his route for opportunities to lecture on the English language and recoup his finances, impoverished due to a failed investment. He recounts and criticizes the racism, imperialism and missionary zeal he encountered on his travels - and all with his particular brand of wit.