A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court / Mark Twain / 410 pages / Dead Author Challenge

Missouri's own Mark Twain has done much to dispel the myths of Arthurian legend with this tongue-in-cheek visit to historical merry old England.  Using Hank Morgan, a nineteenth century resident of Hartford, Connecticut (Twain's own home), as a vehicle, Twain relates cumbersome aspects of chivalry and knighthood and the church's untoward control over the lives of the common man.  Morgan is determined to use his superior technological knowledge to modernize, improve the lives of the people, and bring knighthood to its knees.  Inspired by one Twain's dreams and his financial reverses, it is a cynical look at both the romanticized past and Twain's own present.