This book demonstrates the range of Twain’s imagination and themes. Published in 1889 and regarded as a satire, this book tells the story of a commonsensical Yankee, Hank Morgan, who is knocked unconscious and somehow transported back to 6th century England, the so-called “Dark Ages,” the political and social flip-side of 19th century Connecticut. The tale turns on the contrast between the ingenuity and 19th century values of the Connecticut Yankee and the superstition and authoritarianism of a feudal monarchy. Twain wrote this book after reading Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D’Arthur. After his mysterious appearance in England circa 528, Morgan is captured and taken to Camelot and put on exhibit before the knights of King Arthur's Round Table. He is condemned to death. The quick-thinking Morgan recalls having read of an eclipse on the day of his execution and amazes the court by predicting the eclipse. It is then decided that he is a sorcerer like Merlin, and he is elevated to role as minister to the ineffectual king. In an attempt to introduce democratic ideas and mechanical knowledge to the realm, Morgan strings telephone wires, starts schools, trains mechanics, and teaches journalism. He also falls in love and marries. However, when Morgan tries to improve the sorry lot of the peasants, he is met with opposition from many quarters. Morgan and Arthur, in disguise, travel among the miserable commoners, are taken captive and sold as slaves, and only at the last second are rescued by 500 knights on bicycles. Morgan and his family briefly retire to the seaside. Eventually they return and find the kingdom engulfed in civil war, Arthur killed, and Morgan’s innovations abandoned. He is wounded, and Merlin, pretending to nurse him, casts a spell that puts him to sleep, and he awakens, back in the 19th century. Twain masterfully blends the comic, the satirical, and the farcical in this intriguing and imaginative tale.