Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, Volumes 1 & 2

Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

Mark Twain's work on Joan of Arc is titled in full "Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte." De Conte is identified as Joan's page and secretary. For those who've always wanted to "get behind" the Joan of Arc story and to better understand just what happened, Twain's narrative makes the story personal and very accessible.

The work is fictionally presented as a translation from the manuscript by Jean Francois Alden, or, in the words of the published book, "Freely Translated out of the Ancient French into Modern English from the Original Unpublished Manuscript in the National Archives of France."

It was originally published as a serialization in Harper's Magazine beginning in 1895 and later published in book form in 1896. However the Harper's editors decided to cut 12 chapters that describe much of Joan's Great Trial, saying the chapters were not suitable for serialization since, "They will not bear mutilation or interruption, but must be read as a whole, as one reads a drama." This recording contains the complete text!

De Conte is a fictionalized version of Joan of Arc's page Louis de Contes, and provides narrative unity to the story. He is presented as an individual who was with Joan during the three major phases of her life - as a youth in Domremy, as the commander of Charles' army on military campaign, and as a defendant at the trial in Rouen. The book is presented as a translation by Alden of de Conte's memoirs, written in his later years for the benefit of his descendants.

Twain based his descriptions of Joan of Arc on his daughter, Susy Clemens, as he remembered her at the age of seventeen.

Twain said, "I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well. And besides, it furnished me seven times the pleasure afforded me by any of the others; twelve years of preparation, and two years of writing. The others needed no preparation and got none." (Summary by Wikipedia and John Greenman)

Genre(s): Historical Fiction, War & Military Fiction

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 00 - Vol. I, Book I, In Domremy - Preface John Greenman
00:11:30
Play 01 01 - When Wolves Ran Free in Paris John Greenman
00:06:54
Play 02 02 - The Fairy Tree of Domremy John Greenman
00:29:56
Play 03 03 - All Aflame with Love of France John Greenman
00:17:44
Play 04 04 - Joan Tames the Mad Man John Greenman
00:18:50
Play 05 05 - Domremy Pillaged and Burned John Greenman
00:18:02
Play 06 06 - Joan and Archangel Michael John Greenman
00:14:52
Play 07 07 - She Delivers the Divine Command John Greenman
00:16:21
Play 08 08 - Why the Scorners Relented John Greenman
00:04:37
Play 09 09 - Book II-IN COURT AND CAMP - Joan Says Good-By John Greenman
00:04:21
Play 10 10 - The Governor Speeds Joan John Greenman
00:13:54
Play 11 11 - The Paladin Groans and Boasts John Greenman
00:12:48
Play 12 12 - Joan Leads Us Through the Enemy John Greenman
00:16:40
Play 13 13 - We Pierce the Last Ambuscades John Greenman
00:24:47
Play 14 14 - Joan Convinces the King John Greenman
00:16:12
Play 15 15 - Our Paladin in His Glory John Greenman
00:15:10
Play 16 16 - Joan Persuades the Inquisitors John Greenman
00:17:32
Play 17 17 - She Is Made General-in-Chief John Greenman
00:06:54
Play 18 18 - The Maid's Sword and Banner John Greenman
00:10:22
Play 19 19 - The War March Is Begun John Greenman
00:08:03
Play 20 20 - Joan Puts Heart in Her Army John Greenman
00:13:21
Play 21 21 - Checked by the Folly of the Wise John Greenman
00:13:39
Play 22 22 - What the English Answered John Greenman
00:05:44
Play 23 23 - My Exquisite Poem Goes to Smash John Greenman
00:18:34
Play 24 24 - The Finding of the Dwarf John Greenman
00:19:15
Play 25 25 - Sweet Fruit of Bitter Truth John Greenman
00:05:02
Play 26 26 - Joan's First Battle-Field John Greenman
00:11:01
Play 27 27 - We Burst In Upon Ghosts John Greenman
00:05:34
Play 28 28 - Joan Makes Cowards Brave Victors John Greenman
00:10:41
Play 29 29 - She Gently Reproves Her Dear Friend John Greenman
00:10:54
Play 30 30 - The Fate of France Decided John Greenman
00:15:16
Play 31 31 - Joan Inspires the Tawdry King John Greenman
00:17:03
Play 32 32 - Tinsel Trappings of Nobility John Greenman
00:07:05
Play 33 33 - At Last--Forward! John Greenman
00:11:17
Play 34 34 - The Last Doubts Scattered John Greenman
00:08:39
Play 35 35 - How Joan Took Jargeau John Greenman
00:15:26
Play 36 36 - Joan Foretells Her Doom John Greenman
00:06:09
Play 37 37 - Fierce Talbot Reconsiders John Greenman
00:13:24
Play 38 38 - The Red Field of Patay John Greenman
00:07:39
Play 39 39 - France Begins to Live Again John Greenman
00:06:08
Play 40 40 - The Joyous News Flies Fast John Greenman
00:02:58
Play 41 41 - Joan's Five Great Deeds John Greenman
00:09:47
Play 42 42 - The Jests of the Burgundians John Greenman
00:11:44
Play 43 43 - The Heir of France is Crowned John Greenman
00:22:19
Play 44 44 - Joan Hears News from Home John Greenman
00:19:45
Play 45 45 - Again to Arms John Greenman
00:13:18
Play 46 46 - The King Cries "Forward!" John Greenman
00:11:29
Play 47 47 - We Win, but the King Balks John Greenman
00:14:49
Play 48 48 - Treachery Conquers Joan John Greenman
00:06:29
Play 49 49 - The Maid Will March No More John Greenman
00:11:50
Play 50 50 - The Maid in Chains John Greenman
00:08:50
Play 51 51 - Joan Sold to the English John Greenman
00:09:37
Play 52 52 - Weaving the Net About Her John Greenman
00:11:11
Play 53 53 - All Ready to Condemn John Greenman
00:06:32
Play 54 54 - Fifty Experts Against a Novice John Greenman
00:10:21
Play 55 55 - The Maid Baffles Her Persecutors John Greenman
00:17:00
Play 56 56 - Craft That Was in Vain John Greenman
00:10:07
Play 57 57 - Joan Tells of Her Visions John Greenman
00:11:47
Play 58 58 - Her Sure Deliverance Foretold John Greenman
00:23:01
Play 59 59 - The Inquisitors at Their Wit's End John Greenman
00:09:33
Play 60 60 - The Court Reorganized for Assassination John Greenman
00:11:10
Play 61 61 - Joan's Master-Stroke Diverted John Greenman
00:13:35
Play 62 62 - The Third Trial Fails John Greenman
00:17:08
Play 63 63 - Joan Struggles with Her Twelve Lies John Greenman
00:12:24
Play 64 64 - Undaunted by Threat of Burning John Greenman
00:07:34
Play 65 65 - Joan Stands Defiant Before the Rack John Greenman
00:11:22
Play 66 66 - Supreme in Direst Peril John Greenman
00:05:39
Play 67 67 - Condemned Yet Unafraid John Greenman
00:07:03
Play 68 68 - Our Last Hopes of Rescue Fail John Greenman
00:08:32
Play 69 69 - The Betrayal John Greenman
00:19:44
Play 70 70 - Respited Only for Torture John Greenman
00:05:44
Play 71 71 - Joan Gives the Fatal Answer John Greenman
00:12:49
Play 72 72 - The Time Is at Hand John Greenman
00:14:11
Play 73 73 - Joan the Martyr John Greenman
00:12:54
Play 74 74 - Conclusion John Greenman
00:09:16