The Prince and the Pauper (Tor Classics) - Softcover

Twain, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0812504771 ISBN 13: 9780812504774

Publisher: Aerie, 1992

Synopsis

Tor Classics are affordably-priced editions designed to attract the young reader. Original dynamic cover art enthusiastically represents the excitement of each story. Appropriate "reader friendly" type sizes have been chosen for each title—offering clear, accurate, and readable text. All editions are complete and unabridged, and feature Introductions and Afterwords.

This edition of The Prince and the Pauper includes an Introduction, Biographical Note, and Afterword by R. L. Fisher.

The Prince of Wales, Edward Tudor, was thrown to a filthy drunken mob--by his own guards. Beaten, starved, chased by dogs, forced to beg and steal...while even the prince's one friend, adventurer Miles Hendon, thought the boy was only a demented beggar.

Tom Canty was thrust into an alien life of protocol, ritual, and diplomacy. He, too, was thought mad, for suddenly "forgetting" classic languages, courtly manners, his role in world destiny. The beggar realized, with growing terror, that he was expected to rule, wage war, send people to their deaths...

Then King Henry VIII died. And unless two "mad" boys could convince someone of the truth, their fates would be sealed forever. By a crown.

Long live the king.

About this title

From the Publisher

Rich with surprise and hilarious adventure, The Prince And The Pauper is a delight satire of England's romantic past and a joyful boyhood romp filled with the same tongue-in-cheek irony that sparked the best of Mark Twain's tall tales. Two boys, one an urchin from London's filthy lanes, the other a prince born in a lavish palace, unwittingly trade identities. Thus a bedraggled "Prince of Poverty" discovers that his private dreams have all the come true -- while a pampered Prince of Wales finds himself tossed into a rough-and-tumble world of squalid beggars and villainous thieves. Originally written as a story for children, The Prince And The Pauper is a classic novel for adults as well -- through its stinging attack on the ageless human folly of attempting to measure true worth by outer appearances.

From the Back Cover

This treasured historical satire, played out in two very different socioeconomic worlds of 16th-century England, centers around the lives of two boys born in London on the same day: Edward, Prince of Wales, and Tom Canty, a street beggar. During a chance encounter, the two realize they are identical and, as a lark, decide to exchange clothes and roles—a situation that briefly, but drastically, alters the lives of both youngsters.
The Prince, dressed in rags, wanders about the city's boisterous neighborhoods among the lower classes and endures a series of hardships; poor Tom, now living with the royals, is constantly filled with the dread of being discovered for who and what he really is.
Brimming with gentle humor and discerning social scrutiny, this timeless tale of transposed identities remains one of Twain's most popular and best-loved novels.

About this edition

• Publisher: Aerie
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0812504771
• ISBN 13: 9780812504774
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 256