Describing Tolstoy's crisis of depression and estrangement from the world, A Confession (1879) is an autobiographical work of exceptional emotional... honesty. By the time he was fifty, Tolstoy had already written the novels that would assure him of literary immortality; he had a wife, a large estate and numerous children; he was a happy man' and in good health - yet life had lost its meaning. In this poignant confessional fragment, he records a period of his life when he began to turn away from fiction and aesthetics, and to search instead for a practical religion not promising future bliss, but giving bliss on earth'.

As a result of his controversial works criticizing the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church, Tolstoy was excommunicated in 1901,... dismissing the event lightly as he continued his search for a practical religion. "A Confession and Other Religious Works" is the product of years of introspection, resulting in a drastic reorientation of Tolstoy's beliefs and values. He felt undeserving of the wealth and fame he had accumulated, while millions around him were illiterate and afflicted, and therefore sought an acceptable faith wherein he could find the answers to life's most profound questions. In this autobiographical work of exceptional emotional honesty, he records his various attempts to find those answers in areas of science, philosophy, eastern wisdom, and the opinions of his fellow novelists. As a result of this process, Tolstoy recognizes in ordinary people a deep religious conviction, in which he may find the true answers to questions without which life, to him, is impossible. This collection includes Tolstoy's "Confession" as well as the following three other religious essays: "What is religion? and What is its Essence?", "Religion and Morality", and "The Law of Violence and The Law of Love."

This work marks the author's movement from the pursuit of aesthetic ideals toward matters of religious and philosophical consequence. The poignant text... describes Tolstoy's heartfelt reexamination of Christian orthodoxy and subsequent spiritual awakening. Generations of readers have been inspired by this timeless account of one man's struggle for faith and meaning in life.

This anthology provides an introduction to the traditions, themes, and main arguments in the conflicts literature. A Conflict-of-Laws Anthology is... systematic, comprehensive, and up-to-date. Over seventy selections present the work of leading conflicts scholars from Story and Beale to those writing today. The selections are carefully edited, systematically arranged by chapter and topic, and accompanied by Professor Shreve's meticulous commentary. The book also features numerous aids, including an extensive bibliography, an informative index, and a table of cases that will enable students to tie readings to conflicts course work.

In this classic work, Thomas Sowell analyzes the two competing visions that shape our debates about the nature of reason, justice, equality, and power:... the “constrained” vision, which sees human nature as unchanging and selfish, and the “unconstrained” vision, in which human nature is malleable and perfectible. He describes how these two radically opposed views have manifested themselves in the political controversies of the past two centuries, including such contemporary issues as welfare reform, social justice, and crime. Updated to include sweeping political changes since its first publication in 1987, this revised edition of A Conflict of Visions offers a convincing case that ethical and policy disputes circle around the disparity between both outlooks.

So Hank Morgan, mechanic and factory supervisor from Hartford, Connecticut, introduces his strange history, which begins when he wakes up to find... himself in sixth century England. and so Mark Twain introduces us to the results- satiric, satanic, anguished and anarchic- of an imaginary confrontation between the new, nineteenth century America and Olde England.

ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP A nineteenth-century American travels back in time to sixth-century England in this darkly... comic social satire. THIS ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES: A concise introduction that gives the reader important background information A chronology of the author's life and work A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context An outline of key themes and plot points to guide the reader's own interpretations Detailed explanatory notes Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential. SERIES EDITED BY CYNTHIA BRANTLEY JOHNSON

Hank Morgan awakens one morning to find he has been transported from nineteenth-century New England to sixth-century England and the reign of King... Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Morgan brings to King Arthur’s utopian court the ingenuity of the future, resulting in a culture clash that is at once satiric, anarchic, and darkly comic. Critically deemed one of Twain’s finest and most caustic works, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is both a delightfully entertaining story and a disturbing analysis of the efficacy of government, the benefits of progress, and the dissolution of social mores. It remains as powerful a work of fiction today as it was upon its first publication in 1889.

Twain, Mark "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" in the revolutionary Bed Book Landscape Reading Format - a new approach to reading in bed as... well as other places people enjoy reading while lying down, such as the beach, or on a grassy lawn in the park. Bed Books provide the freedom to lie in any comfortable position without being obligated to sit up in order to read. They can be an essential aid for readers who may be prone to back and neck strain when assuming the contorted body positions normally required for reading while lying down, and for those who have previously found it difficult or impossible to read books in bed, such as the elderly and the disabled. Bed Books can also be read sitting up as easily as with a conventional book. See the current Bed Book Catalog at: www.bedbooks.NET www.readinginbed.com

Cracked on the head by a crowbar in nineteenth-century Connecticut, Hank Morgan wakes to find himself in King Arthur's England. Branded by Twain's... aptitude for broad comedy and biting social satire, the grim truths of Twain's Camelot-fear, injustice, ignorance-resound as clearly now as when it was written.

This novel tells the story of Hank Morgan, the quintessential self-reliant New Englander who brings to King Arthur’s Age of Chivalry the “great and... beneficent” miracles of nineteenth-century engineering and American ingenuity. Through the collision of past and present, Twain exposes the insubstantiality of both utopias, destroying the myth of the romantic ideal as well as his own era’s faith in scientific and social progress.A central document in American intellectual history, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is at once a hilarious comedy of anachronisms and incongruities, a romantic fantasy, a utopian vision, and a savage, anarchic social satire that only one of America’s greatest writers could pen.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark Twain, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at... affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. One of the greatest satires in American literature, Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court begins when Hank Morgan, a skilled mechanic in a nineteenth-century New England arms factory, is struck on the head during a quarrel and awakens to find himself among the knights and magicians of King Arthur’s Camelot.What follows is a culture clash of the first magnitude, as practical-minded Hank, disgusted with the ignorance and superstition of the people, decides to enlighten them with education and technology. Through a series of wonderfully imaginative adventures, Twain celebrates American homespun ingenuity and democracy as compared to the backward ineptitude of a chivalric monarchy. At the same time, however, Twain raises the question of whether material progress necessarily creates a better society. As Hank becomes more powerful and self-righteous, he also becomes more ruthless, more autocratic, and less able to control events, until the only way out is a massively destructive war.While the dark pessimism that would fully blossom in Twain’s later works can be discerned in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, the novel will nevertheless be remembered primarily for its wild leaps of imagination, brilliant wit, and entertaining storytelling.With over 200 of the original illustrations by Dan Beard. Stephen Railton teaches American literature at the University of Virginia. His most recent book is Mark Twain: A Short Introduction.

Hank Morgan finds himself transported back to England's Dark Ages — where he is immediately captured and sentenced to death at Camelot. Fortunately,... he's quick-witted, and in the process of saving his life he turns himself into a celebrity — winning himself the position of prime minister as well as the lasting enmity of Merlin.

A Connecticut Yankee is Mark Twain's most ambitious work, a tour de force with a science-fiction plot told in the racy slang of a Hartford workingman,... sparkling with literary hijinks as well as social and political satire. Mark Twain characterized his novel as "one vast sardonic laugh at the trivialities, the servilities of our poor human race." The Yankee, suddenly transported from his native nineteenth-century America to the sleepy sixth-century Britain of King Arthur and the Round Table, vows brashly to "boss the whole country inside of three weeks." And so he does. Emerging as "The Boss," he embarks on an ambitious plan to modernize Camelot--with unexpected results.

A Connecticut Yankee is Mark Twain's most ambitious work, a tour de force with a science-fiction plot told in the racy slang of a Hartford workingman,... sparkling with literary hijinks as well as social and political satire. Mark Twain characterized his novel as "one vast sardonic laugh at the trivialities, the servilities of our poor human race." The Yankee, suddenly transported from his native nineteenth-century America to the sleepy sixth-century Britain of King Arthur and the Round Table, vows brashly to "boss the whole country inside of three weeks." And so he does. Emerging as "The Boss," he embarks on an ambitious plan to modernize Camelot--with unexpected results.Daniel Carter Beard illustrated the first edition of Yankee in 1889, and Mark Twain praised his work as "better than the book--which is a good deal for me to say, I reckon." This Mark Twain Library edition reprints the text based on the author's manuscript, all 221 of Beard's illustrations, and the notes from the California scholarly edition.