,
6 tweets,
1 min read
Read on Twitter
Mark Twain chronicled the Diamond Jubilee at the end of an international lecture tour, calling the procession an “allegorical suggestion of the Last Day.”
The New York Public Library has one of the few copies of that report in a private collection. I read it years ago while writing a play on Twain’s life.
It’d been a rough time for Twain. His daughter died the last year, but he kept his dark humor, seeing armageddon in the parade.
It’d been a rough time for Twain. His daughter died the last year, but he kept his dark humor, seeing armageddon in the parade.
The report’s also fascinating in that it followed Twain’s tour around the globe—Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ceylan (now Sri Lanka), Fiji, India, South Africa, and more—and it includes a long riff on the British empire.
He became a staunch anti-imperialist soon after.
He became a staunch anti-imperialist soon after.
Incidentally, Mark Twain became an anti-imperialist in opposing U.S. atrocities during the Philippine-American War, including the Moro massacre.
Trump infamously valorized that massacre and its perpetrator, General Pershing.
Trump infamously valorized that massacre and its perpetrator, General Pershing.
Another feature of that war: U.S. setting up concentration camps in the Philippines.
Clarification: The general who gave the order for the Moro massacre was General Wood.
Trump said General Pershing dipped bullets in pig’s blood to kill Muslims in the Philippines, a hideous historical lie used for an ugly purpose. Different incidents, part of the same war.
Trump said General Pershing dipped bullets in pig’s blood to kill Muslims in the Philippines, a hideous historical lie used for an ugly purpose. Different incidents, part of the same war.
