Mark Twain's Weapons of Satire: Anti-Imperialist Writings on the Philippine-American War Mark Twain Edited by Jim Zwick Syracuse University Press, 1992 256 pages, 21 illustrations, bibliography, index Cloth, First Edition This title is currently out of print. Check Amazon.com for used copies.

Featured as the cover story of the April 1992 Atlantic Monthly.

"A book that anyone alert to the course of 20th-century American policy should enjoy greatly while learning (painfully) from it. Twainians will add it to their top shelf of primary, required texts." --Louis J. Budd, Duke University.

"From Biblical days, there has rarely been a welcome mat for the bearers of unwanted messages.... The abolitionists are honored mostly in retrospect. They were 'despised and ostracized, and insulted,' Mark Twain wrote -- 'by the "patriots"': 'None but the dead are permitted to speak truth.' His own anti-imperialist essays are scarcely known. The first collection appeared in 1992; its editor notes that his prominent role in the Anti-Imperialist League, a major preoccupation in the last ten years of his life, 'seems to have remained unmentioned in all biographies.'" --Noam Chomsky, Year 501: The Conquest Continues

Mark Twain was the most prominent literary opponent of the Philippine-American War and served as a vice president of the Anti-Imperialist League from 1901 until his death in 1910. A contemporary newspaper described him as "the most influential anti-imperialist and the most dreaded critic of the sacrosanct person in the White House that the country contains." Today, however, this aspect of his career is barely known.

For the first time, Mark Twain's writings, speeches and interviews on the Philippine-American War are collected in a single volume. Spanning the years from 1900 to 1908, the selections encompass the full spectrum of his statements on the war -- written and spoken, public and private -- and present the full force of his compassion, indignation and caustic sarcasm. Drawing upon the unpublished manuscripts of Mark Twain and various other leaders of the Anti-Imperialist League, Jim Zwick's introduction and headnotes provide the first complete account of Twain's relationship with the anti-imperialist movement and its impact on his writings.

From Twain's Pointed Pen

Reviews

"Reveals the fierceness of Twain's political commitments at the end of his life. Zwick gives a fuller account of Twain's sincere involvement in the Anti-Imperialist League than has hitherto appeared, and the gathered selections of his writings against the Philippine-American war (many never reprinted before and some previously unpublished) effectively demonstrate the depth of his opposition to individual figures... and to American foreign policy and military practice." --American Literary Scholarship, 1992

"Mark Twain's writings sparked intense controversy when they were written, and readers will appreciate the continuing relevance and quotability of his statements on the abuse of patriotism, the 'treason' of requiring school children to salute the flag, the right to dissent, the importance of self-government, and the value of America's democratic and anticolonial traditions." --Philippine Witness

"Brings together all Twain's fulminations... against America's first gropings toward empire during the turn-of-the-century Philippine-American War. Full of rage and disgust over his nation's betrayal of a trusting people, these articles, reviews, letters and notebook entries shed considerable light on the grim determinism and despair that inform Twain's writing during the last decade of his life. Recommended." --Library Journal

"Students and teachers of politics, literature and history are indebted to Jim Zwick for this inspiring collection of wit and passion, much of it previously unpublished." --Philippine Issues (Melbourne)

"Not surprisingly, this is a most readable collection, full of sardonic wit. Twain scholars already familiar with his anti-imperialism will be pleased to discover the new material from archival sources. Zwick's extensive bibliography, sources of texts, and full index complete a valuable book which will appeal to those in the fields of literature, politics and history." --Philip W. Leon, Mississippi Quarterly

"A fresh and substantially documented examination of a major concern of Mark Twain's at the turn of the century." --Thomas A. Tenney, Mark Twain Circular

"This most welcome volume brings together Mark Twain's writings on the Philippine-American War, a collection of diverse material that is greatly enhanced by the editor's introduction and headnotes." --Nineteenth-Century Literature

"Zwick's Introduction and headnotes are exemplary, giving excellent historical and biographical context for the novice and specialist alike." --Robert C. Comeau, Mark Twain Forum

"The relevance of Twain's comments on the right to dissent, the value of America's democratic and anticolonial traditions is startling." --Ephemera News

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