The Prince and the Pauper [Paperback] Mark Twain

The world is made wrong; kings should go to school to their own laws, at times, and so learn mercy

Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper is the tale of two identical little boys born at the same time – one royalty, the other an impoverished commoner. Upon a chance meeting between Prince Edward and Tom Canty, the two boys – frustrated with their lives for different reasons – decide to switch places. What follows is both adventure and introspection as Edward and Tom are thrown into completely unfamiliar lives. The Prince and the Pauper is a class commentary at heart, and Mark Twain deftly exposes the hypocrisy and cruelty of the upper classes in 16th-century England.