Mark Twain's Tale of Today

As America's first global celebrity Mark Twain was a much-sought-after political commentator. He warned against politicians who put loyalty to party above the national interest the corrupting influence of money in the legislative process the irrelevance of political campaigns that sidestep issues of voter concern by resorting to platitudes and demonizing the opposition and the false patriotism that rallies support for unjust wars. Twain's cogent insightful commentary retains an uncanny relevance to the challenges facing American democracy today. Mark Twain's Tale of Today traces the evolution of Twain's views about politics government social and economic issues capitalism foreign policy and American-style democracy. It describes the parallels between Twain's Gilded Age and contemporary America-- boom and bust economic cycles partisan trench warfare and gridlock risky speculation in the financial markets rapid technological and cultural change and rising income disparity.