Budd, Louis J., Critical Essays on Mark Twain, 1867-1910, G. K. Hall & Co., 1982.

This collection features a number of the key criticisms of Twain's works during his lifetime.

Davis, David Brion, The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture, Oxford University Press, 1988.

This classic, Pulitzer Prize-winning study examines slavery from historical and sociological perspectives.

DeVoto, Bernard, The Riverside Press, 1951.

This informative book, by the editor of the second version of Twain's autobiography, discusses Twain within the context of the times in which he lived, and answers some of the critical attacks on Twain.

Gandy, Joan W., and Thomas H. Gandy, The Mississippi Steamboat Era in Historic Photographs: Natchez to New Orleans 1870-1920, Dover Publications, 1989.

This book chronicles the culture of steamboats through photos and essays from the Civil War until the beginning of the twentieth century.

Meinig, D. W., The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on...