Mr. Kaplan's Introduction starts off with the bald statement that had the book "been the work of another popular writer of its day ... it would not command attention a century later." A curious way to start an introduction for a book which the publisher presumably wishes to sell. Ms. Harris, on the other hand, makes some excellent points supporting her thesis that the novel is "a document of fin-de-siécle loss and alienation," but, like Mr. Kaplan, is relentlessly dismissive of the work's quality as a whole. Both authors seem to resent the fact that Mark Twain's chronicle is not a funny book, nor does it fit easily into the pigeonhole of Twain as American literary icon. Interestingly enough, it is Mr. Kaplan who cites Susy Clemens' opinion on her father's career: "He should show himself to be the great writer that he is, not merely a funny man! Funny! That's all the people see in him--a maker of funny speeches!" A hundred years after her statement, Kaplan and Harris are quick to bear out its unfortunate truth.

Joan of Arc may not be a particularly good example of social criticism--as a matter of fact, any criticism of nineteenth century society it contains are heavily veiled by its medieval setting--but it is a scathing indictment of human treachery and deceit, elements that are prevalent in all societies and throughout all eras. And it is a wonderful story! It is Twain at his most unapologetically sentimental, and few writers, if any, were ever capable of achieving that state without descending into the maudlin. The book is not a biography, although it does draw from the actual transcripts of Joan's trial. And it certainly wouldn't pass muster by today's standard of "biography as pathology."*

However, both Kaplan and Harris are on the mark in stating that this book is atypical of Mark Twain. Despite his well-known agnosticism, he writes in an adulatory way about a woman who, 24 years after the publication of this book, was canonized by the Catholic church. Despite his financial problems of the time (leading to bankruptcy), he wrote a book that was a major departure from the style that had made him a success. Despite his virtual hatred of the French, he undertook a loving portrait of their most-cherished national hero.

Twain spent 12 years researching this book, and two more in the writing of it. It was time well spent, and the rewards for the reader are enormous. The author knew that. "I like Joan of Arc best of all my books," said Mark Twain in 1908. "It is the best; I know it perfectly well."

*A term borrowed from Jan Swafford's recent book on Charles Ives (whose connection to Mark Twain is that Ives' father-in-law was Mark Twain's neighbor in Hartford).

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