The Historian's Huck Finn: Reading Mark Twain's Masterpiece as Social and Economic History

(Hardback)

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Putting Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 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. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is widely regarded as a classic American novela groundbreaking one in which the author attempts to accurately portray society through the use of at-times coarse vernacular English. In this book, readers can experience the full text of Twain's Huckleberry Finn accompanied by annotations in footnote form throughout. As a result, this classic is transformed into a fascinating historical documentation of 19th-century American life and society that touches on topics like slavery, the transportation revolution, race, class, and confidence men. Bringing the perspective of a social and economic historian, Ranjit S. Dighe offers more than 150 annotations as well as supporting essays that put the characters, incidents, and settings of the book into their historical context. First-time readers get to experience a great American novel with memorable characters, vivid imagery, and a great narrative voice while simultaneously learning about American history; teachers and students who have read Huckleberry Finn before will enjoy re-reading it, especially with insightful annotations that connect the story to the historical timeline. This book exposes the subtle lessons Twain's tale has to teach us about America's growth, development, conflicts, and mass movements in the nation's first century.

Reviews

Though the bibliographic record does not indicate it as such, this is actually an edition of Mark Twain's Huck Finn, not just a book about that novel. Huck Finn is set several decades before its 1884 publication, which has often confused readers. Dighe's 170 annotations to this edition will help readers understand the novel's historical context. The notes address slave ownership and abolition, slang and dialect, steamboat terminology, the value of money, types of river commerce, food, clothing, and almost every other feature of 19th-century life depicted in the novel. The volume also features dozens of illustrations: selections of Edward Kemble's drawings made for the first edition along with contemporary photographs and other images that help convey a sense of the novel's setting. A preface geared toward history teachers interested in adding Huck Finn to their lesson plans offers suggestions about how to pair it with textbooks or integrate it with other historical readings. Two chapters preceding the text of the novel contextualize the work in terms of Twain's life and 19th-century themes of prosperity, expansion, inequality, and commercialism. This is a fine edition of the novel for new readers and is especially valuable for those wishing to gain a deeper understanding of its times. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. * Choice *
The edition Dighe has prepared promised to introduce readers to the novel through an unconventional, interdisciplinary lens, perhaps generating fresh perspectives on these debates and others. At CMTS, we vigorously applaud the implicit position of The Historian's Huck Finn, that Twain's works make valuable contributions to courses outside the Department of English. * Center for Mark Twain Studies *
This literature dissection will be of interest to undergraduate students and scholars researching history and literature of the United States. Those studying U.S. economics will also benefit from this examination. Recommended. * ARBA *

Author Bio

Ranjit S. Dighe, PhD, is professor of economics at the State University of New York at Oswego.