Mark Twain was born in 1835 in Missouri and grew up along the Mississippi River. He worked as a steamboat pilot in his 20s but the Civil War halted river traffic. Using the pen name "Mark Twain", he began publishing in the 1860s and wrote several famous works, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huckleberry Finn, published in 1885, has been controversial due to its use of racial slurs and portrayal of African American character Jim, but is also considered one of the greatest American novels and a seminal work of satire against racism.

1. Mark Twain & The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn