The historian's Huck Finn

the long version

Putting Mark Twain's <i>Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i> in historical context, connecting it to pivotal issues like slavery, class, money, and American economic expansion, this book engages readers by presenting American history through the lens of a great novel. ? Presents Twain's book as a historical novel that brings up key historical issues both in the antebellum period in which the novel is set and in the post-Reconstruction period in which it was written ? Identifies how <i>Huckleberry Finn</i> underscores perhaps the cruelest aspect of slavery: the involuntary separation of husbands, wives, and children from each other ? Ideal reading for college and high school students taking American history classes as well as general readers with an interest in American history, Mark Twain, or both ? Provides extensive annotations that are useful, accessible, and interesting to readers without specialized knowledge of 19th-century history.