Review of "Classics Illustrated: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court," by Mark Twain

 Review of

Classics Illustrated: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, by Mark Twain

Five out of five stars

An excellent synopsis of a classic tale

 This is my favorite novel in the Twain writings where the topic is fantasy/science fiction. A worker (Hank Morgan) in an arms factory is hit over the head by a co-worker and when he regains consciousness, he is living in England in the time of King Arthur. Considered the ultimate outsider, he is scheduled to be burned at the stake. While in prison, he learns what day and year it is. Being a learned man, he realizes that a solar eclipse is going to happen right at the time of his execution. Which is amazing, for the year is 528 CE, over one thousand years before the time he was knocked unconscious.

 In the tradition of stories like this, he claims that the sun will be devoured if he is not let go. It works in this case, and he becomes a key advisor to King Arthur. Morgan then proceeds to create a rapid industrialization of the English society, including the stringing of telegraph and telephone cables and creating schools in order to educate the masses.

 Problems arise and it is up to Morgan to solve them, including when the King and Morgan don disguises and go out among the people. They are not recognized, and their lives are in danger. Fortunately, knights in service to the king arrive in time using a humorous form of transportation. There is a major revolt, and it is put down using advanced devices such as electric power and machine guns.

 Merlin, the court magician to King Arthur, casts a spell on Morgan after he is wounded so that he will sleep for thirteen centuries, waking up back in Connecticut. No mention is made if anything is different as a consequence of Morgan’s time travel.

 Twain makes no attempt to scientifically justify how things are made to happen, from the travel back in time to how the industrial revolution in old England was carried out. With the devices that Moran created, it would have been simple for England to have conquered the world. The machine gun was used by the colonial powers in the nineteenth century to great effect. In the sixth century, it would have been overpowering and considered an act of witchcraft. Yet, this is an entertaining story as long as you accept the main premise of time travel.

 This is an excellent adaptation of a classic story and could be used in middle school literature classes.