![]() In the 1860s, it took more than a week to sail to Europe, depending on the weather and the wind. The Innocents Abroad is a long and detailed book, a book without any plot but with lots of action and movement. In this year 1867, while America was still crippled by the Civil War, Mark Twain (still known as Samuel Clemens), boarded the steamer Quaker City, along with about sixty other “pilgrims,” and sailed for the “Old World.” The nonfiction book that he wrote about this trip, The Innocents Abroad, was first published in 1869. He hadn’t yet written the books that would make him famous such as Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In 1867, Mark Twain wasn’t yet a famous writer he was in his early thirties and had only one published book to his credit. Do you think your employer would kindly allow you to be away from your job all that time? Would your house be all right to go away and leave it unattended? Would the grass not need cutting in all that time? And what about the overflow of mail that your mailbox couldn’t accommodate? And if you had cats, dogs, or goldfish, wouldn’t they miss you while you were away? ![]() ![]() Imagine taking six months out of your life for a “pleasure cruise” halfway around the world. ![]()
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