Pudd'nhead Wilson and those extraordinary twins / Mark Twain

Mark Twain by Peter Coveney -- Introduction by Malcolm Bradbury -- Suggestions for further reading -- A note on the text -- Pudd 'Nhead Wilson -- A whisper to the reader -- Those extraordinary twins -- Appendix.

At the beginning of Pudd'nhead Wilson a young slave woman, fearing for her infant's son's life, exchanges her light-skinned child with her master's. From this rather simple premise Mark Twain fashioned one of his most entertaining, funny, yet biting novels. On its surface, Pudd'nhead Wilson possesses all the elements of an engrossing nineteenth-century mystery: reversed identities, a horrible crime, an eccentric detective, a suspenseful courtroom drama, and a surprising, unusual solution.