A complete study of one of the most important American authors. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, has long been regarded as the quintessential American writer. Twain's best-known works include The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Prince and the Pauper. Always a source of entertainment, the works of Mark Twain are well-written masterpieces as well as important documents of social history. More than 1,250 entries in Critical Companion to Mark Twain provide analyses and detailed synopses of all Twain's books and stories, examinations of Twain's characters, discussions of key events and episodes in Twain's life, and much more. Special features include a full biographical entry on Twain himself; updates covering new Twain publications, such as a rediscovered portion of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the first publication of a lost Twain short story; an extensive chronology; and maps illustrating Twain's travels and the journeys depicted in his fiction.