Albert Bigelow Paine

“ The story of the Yankee—a fanciful narrative of a skilled Yankee mechanic swept backward through the centuries to the dim day of Arthur and his Round Table—is often grotesque enough in its humor, but under it all is Mark Twain’s great humanity in fierce and noble protest against unjust laws, the tyranny of an individual or of a ruling class oppression of any sort. ”

“ As in The Prince and the Pauper, the wandering heir to the throne is brought in contact with cruel injustice and misery, so in the Yankee the king himself becomes one of a band of fettered slaves, and through degradation and horror of soul acquires mercy and humility. ”

“ Edmund Clarence Stedman and William Dean Howells have ranked it very high. Howells once wrote: "Of all the fanciful schemes in fiction, it pleases me most." The Yankee has not held its place in public favor with Mark Twain’s earlier books, but it is a wonderful tale, and we cannot afford to leave it unread.
When the summer came again, Mark Twain and his family decided for once to forego Quarry Farm for a season in the Catskills, and presently found themselves located in a cottage at Onteora in the midst of a most delightful colony. Mrs. ”