Popular in many school curricula and always a source of entertainment for readers of all kinds, 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 Firm 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.