Mark Twain

This week in history: Feb. 12 to Feb. 18

February 12, 2026 Dan Reeves

Feb. 12 1554: Lady Jane Grey, who claimed the English throne for nine days, and her husband, Guildford Dudley, were beheaded after being convicted of high treason. 1809: Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the […]

Book Review: Ron Chernow’s ‘Mark Twain’ gives readers honest assessment of beloved author’s life

May 24, 2025 Andrew DeMillo

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow is known for writing massive biographies of the country’s most enduring figures, including Ulysses S. Grant and Alexander Hamilton. So, it comes as no surprise that his biography of author […]

TWAIN: Will the persecution of the Jews ever come to an end?

December 29, 2023 Mark Twain

On the score of religion, I think it has already come to an end. On the score of race prejudice and trade, I have the idea that it will continue. That is, here and there […]

TWAIN: The art of writing

September 9, 2023 Mark Twain

There has never been a time in the past thirty-five years when my literary shipyard hadn’t two or more half-finished ships on the ways, neglected and baking in the sun; generally, there have been three […]

TWAIN: The supremacy of the house-fly

August 12, 2023 Mark Twain

There is one thing which fills me with wonder and reverence every time I think of It — and that is the confident and splendid fight for supremacy which the house-fly makes against the human […]