The Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain (1869)
One of the best-selling travel books of all time, The Innocents Abroad, is a travelogue by the illustrious American author Mark Twain. His humorous recount shares his 1867 voyage to Europe and his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Imagine a steamer full of Americans off to Europe with Mark Twain as a traveling companion, spewing irreverent observations and shrewd commentary along the way on the places visited, on the habits of fellow passengers, and on reactions to different cultures. His narration is excruciatingly blunt, amusingly mocking, and sometimes harshly critical. The “Great Pleasure Excursion” starts with a departure from New York on the retired Civil War ship Quaker City to Gibraltar and Marseille, then by train to Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome, back to sea to Athens, Odessa, Constantinople (now Istanbul), culminating in an excursion through Jerusalem and Egypt.
There are some occasional serious descriptions on the region's history, but Twain rather is rather quick to get back to his normal witty and entertaining writing style. Despite its humorous tone, the book contains some of Twain's earliest and most biting social criticisms, particularly regarding American and European attitudes towards other cultures. A San Francisco newspaper actually sponsored his trip, culminating in a series of travel letters that later became the book. The Innocents Abroad was Twain's best-selling book during his lifetime.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad. wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
Interesting Facts & Links:
Twain became as well-known for his travel writing as for his fiction, with his travelogues significantly contributing to his literary reputation. His first major success in this genre was The Innocents Abroad of course, but he followed this with Roughing It, detailing his adventures in the American West, and A Tramp Abroad, chronicling his travels through central and southern Europe.
The website for the Mark Twain library at the University of Virginia has great information on The Innocents Abroad, including a map and a series of contemporary reviews. Here is a link for the map.
Here is a review from the Saturday Evening Post, written in 1869, that also comes from the Mark Twain library. "THE INNOCENTS ABROAD; OR, THE NEW PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. By MARK TWAIN (SAMUEL L. CLEMENS.) This is an amusing account of the Steamship Quaker City's Pleasure Excursion to Europe and the Holy Land; with descriptions of countries, nations, incidents and adventures, as they appeared to that comic genius, Mark Twain. It is embellished with 234 Illustrations. While the prevailing tone of the book is humorous, there is a great deal of interesting information contained in its pages. It is a capital work for summer reading."
We named The Innocents Abroad as one of our top picks for those who love travel reads, but the book could of course also been listed in our section on the classics of travel literature.
Recommendations for Those Who Like Mark Twain
Recommendations for Those Who Like Mark Twain
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