The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

Summary: The Prince and the Pauper (1882) represents Mark Twain’s first attempt at historical fiction. The book, set in 1547, tells the story of two young boys who are identical in appearance: Tom Canty, a pauper who lives with his abusive father in Offal Court, London, and Prince Edward son of Henry VIII of England. Due to a series of circumstances, the boys accidentally replace each other, and much of the humor in the book originates in the two boys’ inability to function in the world that is so familiar to the other (although Tom soon displays considerable wisdom in his decisions). In many ways, the book is a social satire, particularly compelling in its condemnation of the inequality that existed between the classes in Tudor England. In that sense, Twain abandoned the wry Midwestern style for which he was best known and adopts a style reminiscent of Charles Dickens. (Summary from Wikipedia.org)


Read this book yourself

Download as a zipped file

Subscribe in iTunes

Internet archive page

Total running time:  6 hours, 56 minutes

To hear this book, click play in the box below or click on the chapter titles.


01 – The birth of the Prince and the Pauper / 02 – Tom’s early life / 03 – Tom’s meeting with the Prince

04 – The Prince / 05 – Tom as a Patrician

06 – Tom receives instructions

07 – Tom’s first royal dinner / 08 – The question of the Seal

09 – The river pageant / 10 – The Prince in the toils

11 – At Guildhall

12 – The Prince and his deliverer

13 – The disappearance of the Prince

14 – ‘Le Roi est mort—vive le Roi’

15 – Tom as King

16 – The state dinner / 17 – Foo-foo the First

18 – The Prince with the tramps / 19 – The Prince with the peasants

20 – The Prince and the hermit / 21 – Hendon to the rescue

22 – A victim of treachery / 23 – The Prince a prisoner

24 – The escape / 25 – Hendon Hall

26 – Disowned / 27 – In prison

28 – The sacrifice / 29 – To London / 30 – Tom’s progress

31 – The Recognition procession

32 – Coronation Day

33 – Edward as King / Conclusion – Justice and Retribution

Leave a Reply