Mark Twain is one of the greatest writers in American history.  Many consider Twain to be the father of American literature as his timeless novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are still among the most widely read books today.  Twain's writing is well known for both its humor and its social criticism.

Roughing It, published in 1872, is a semi-autobiographical travelogue that discusses Twain's adventures before his pleasure cruise which he wrote about in the book The Innocents Abroad.