First published in 1873, The Gilded Age is both a biting satire and a revealing portrait of post-Civil War America - an age of corruption, of national optimism, and of crooked land speculators, ruthless bankers, and dishonest politicians voraciousiy taking advantage of that new optimism.[...]

A collection of Mark Twain's early writings begins with his first published work at age sixteen and includes a dazzlingly varied array of tall tales, short stories, essays, anecdotes, hoaxes, speeches, philosophies, fables, satires, and maxims.[...]