Shelley Fisher Fishkin is Professor of English and American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the editor of The Oxford Mark Twain and author of Was Huck Black? (OUP) and Lighting Out for the Territory (OUP).

Twain's views on anything and everything are examined here in concise but sufficiently detailed chapters on topics ranging from race, gender, religion, commerce, and imperialism... To the student interested not only in Twain's writings, but in the broader subject of his eventful times, this should be a welcome addition. Virginia Quarterly Review

• Introduction ; 1. Capsule Biography ; 2. "A Moralist in Disguise:" Mark Twain and American Religion ; 3. A Republican Artisan in the Court of King Capital: Mark Twain and Commerce ; 4. Mark Twain and Race ; 5. Mark Twain and Gender ; 6. Mark Twain and Social Class ; 7. Mark Twain and Imperialism ; Illustrated Chronology ; Bibliographical Essay