The Cambridge Companion

The Cambridge Companion to Mark Twain offers new and thought-provoking essays on an author of enduring preeminence in the American canon. Accessible enough to interest both experienced specialists and students new to Twain criticism, the essays examine Twain from a wide variety of critical perspectives, and include timely reflections by major critics on the hotly debated dynamics of race and slavery perceptible throughout his writing. The volume includes a chronology of Twain's life and a list of suggestions for further reading.

In the last few decades Elizabeth Gaskell has become a figure of growing importance in the field of Victorian literary studies.