In 1867, a California newspaper commissioned Mark Twain to accompany a group of travelers to the Holy Land and report on his experiences. The trip provided the humorist with an abundance of material for his satiric classic
The Innocents Abroad.
A century and a half later, author Ian Strathcarron scrupulously retraces Twain's footsteps, recounting the history of his predecessor's journeys and his own impressions of the region and its people.
A travel book as well as a unique literary history,
Innocence and War
is the first complete book devoted to this particular episode in Twain's life. Its itinerary ranges from Ephesus, Beirut, and Damascus to the Golan and the Galilee, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem. Strathcarron, traveling by car rather than horseback, visits each of the hotels and monasteries frequented by the earlier party. His humorous and engaging narrative, augmented by Twain's observations, offers fascinating historic and modern insights into the ever-volatile Middle East.