Books with title Innocents Abroad

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.

The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims' Progress is a travel book by American author Mark Twain published in 1869 which humorously chronicles what Twain called his "Great Pleasure Excursion" on board the chartered vessel Quaker City (formerly USS Quaker City) through Europe and the Holy Land with a group of American travelers in 1867. It was the best-selling of Twain's works during his lifetime, as well as one of the best-selling travel books of all time.

In 1867, Mark Twain and a group fellow-Americans toured Europe and the Holy Land, aboard a retired Civil War ship known as “Quaker City.” Throughout the journey, Twain kept a written record of his experiences. “The Innocents Abroad” is both a travelogue and a critique of clashing cultures—but more importantly, it is an entertaining and insightful work written by one of the great masters of American prose.

Fully entitled "The Innocents Abroad, or the New Pilgrims' Progress," Twain's colorful travelogue is a compilation of the newspaper articles he wrote while on a cruise to Europe, Egypt, and the Holy Land with other Americans. His account frequently uses humor to describe the people and places he visits, although this becomes highly satiric at times as Twain becomes frustrated with European profiteering, a pointless historical anecdote in Gibraltar, and the overly institutionalized nature of countries like Italy. Where he critiques, however, he also feels a strange reverence, as in the Canary Islands and the Holy Land. A more serious theme also flows through Twain's experience. Twain sees the conflict between history and the modern world as he travels with Americans through much older civilizations, where they discover that they shouldn't simply believe their guidebooks or what they are told by foreigners. In this landmark novel, Twain seems to search for the American identity after he has left home and embarked on an adventure across the world.

The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims' Progress is a travel book by American author Mark Twain published in 1869 which humorously chronicles what Twain called his "Great Pleasure Excursion" on board the chartered vessel Quaker City (formerly USS Quaker City) through Europe and the Holy Land with a group of American travelers in 1867. It was the best-selling of Twain's works during his lifetime, as well as being one of the best-selling travel books of all time.

Mark Twain considered this a travel book although he complained in his forward that he expected to be criticized for departing from normal travel writing style. The book is mainly composed of newspaper columns he wrote for a San Francisco journal along with letters he wrote to other newspapers. He was interested in pointing out the conflict between history and the modern world. As he journeyed along he continually voiced his outrage, bewilderment, or boredom with the events he encountered, although his frequent bluster was couched with entertaining humor.

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One of the most famous travel books ever written by an American, The Innocents Abroad is Mark Twain’s irreverent and incisive commentary on nineteenth century Americans encountering the Old World. Come along for the ride as Twain and his unsuspecting travel companions visit the Azores, Tangiers, Paris, Rome, the Vatican, Genoa, Gibraltar, Odessa, Constantinople, Cairo, the Holy Land and other locales renowned in history. No person or place is safe from Twain’s sharp wit as it impales both the conservative and the liberal, the Old World and the New. He uses these contrasts to “find out who we as Americans are,” notes Leslie A. Fiedler. But his travelogue demonstrates that, in our attempt to understand ourselves, we must first find out what we are not. With an Introduction Michael Meyer and an Afterword by Leslie A. Fiedler

Mark Twain’s humorous account of his travels through Europe during the 1880s. His fellow travelers and the cultures they encounter are brought to life with his sarcastic wit. Mark Twain sail with his companions from port to port experiencing a variety of cultures and writing realistic accounts of the diversity experienced before the modern era of communications.