Mark Twain's own favorite among his works, the product of a life-long obsession with the history of the Maid of Orleans, Joan of Arc was a failure in terms of sales and has remained obscure and largely out of print for more than a century since its publication. It is, in reality, a much more lively book than its reputation would indicate, and no reader can claim to understand Twain's canon without having read this novel. The initial offering in the Litrix Library series (see also www.litrix.com).

This historical novel purportedly written by Joan's longtime friend -- Sieur Louis de Conte -- discloses Twain's unrestrained admiration for the French heroine's nobility of character.

Mark Twain's work on Joan of Arc is titled in full, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte, who is identified further as Joan's page and secretary. The fictional work is presented as a translation from a manuscript by Jean Francois Alden, or, in the words of the published book, Freely Translated out of the Ancient French into Modern English from the Original Unpublished Manuscript in the National Archives of France. Originally, Mark Twain's novel was published as a serialization in Harper's Magazine beginning in 1895 and it was published in book form in 1896. At Twain’s request, Harper's Magazine published it anonymously to avoid expectations for it to be humorous. This version includes new illustrations.

Through the eyes of the fictional narrator Sieur Louis de Conte we learn about Joan of Arc, seeing the actions and events of an earlier time that did not necessarily seem significant at the moment, but from the vantage point of time and maturity, now seem meaningful.

A host of modern authors have portrayed Joan of Arc as a heroine. Identifying with the medieval saint and martyr as a figure of the artist, they tell her story as a way of commenting on their own situation in a world where the power of art has decreased. Blending the theoretical insights of Walter Benjamin, Roland Barthes and Rene Girard, Ann W. Astell persuasively argues that many modern authors have seen their own artistic vocation in the visions and voices that inspired Joan.

From the author of the acclaimed She-Wolves, the complex, surprising, and engaging story of one of the most remarkable women of the medieval world—as never told before. Helen Castor tells afresh the gripping story of the peasant girl from Domremy who hears voices from God, leads the French army to victory, is burned at the stake for heresy, and eventually becomes a saint. But unlike the traditional narrative, a story already shaped by the knowledge of what Joan would become and told in hindsight, Castor’s Joan of Arc: A History takes us back to fifteenth century France and tells the story forwards. Instead of an icon, she gives us a living, breathing woman confronting the challenges of faith and doubt, a roaring girl who, in fighting the English, was also taking sides in a bloody civil war. We meet this extraordinary girl amid the tumultuous events of her extraordinary world where no one—not Joan herself, nor the people around her—princes, bishops, soldiers, or peasants—knew what would happen next. Adding complexity, depth, and fresh insight into Joan’s life, and placing her actions in the context of the larger political and religious conflicts of fifteenth century France, Joan of Arc: A History is history at its finest and a surprising new portrait of this remarkable woman. Joan of Arc: A History features an 8-page color insert.

The mature Twain writing something of personal interest in a serious vein