The Gilded Age (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. A Post–Civil War Satire of Speculation, Political Corruption, and America's Pursuit of Sudden WealthBy Mark Twain
Length19h 7m
About this audiobook
The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873), written with Charles Dudley Warner, is a sharp social panorama of post–Civil War America, exposing speculation, political corruption, and the seductive mythology of sudden wealth. Blending satire, melodrama, and realistic observation, the novel moves from rural aspiration to Washington intrigue, portraying a nation intoxicated by progress yet morally compromised. Its very title became the enduring name for an era of glittering surfaces and systemic fraud. Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, brought to the book his journalist's eye, democratic skepticism, and intimate knowledge of American ambition. Having worked as a printer, river pilot, reporter, lecturer, and humorist, Twain understood both vernacular culture and public hypocrisy. His collaboration with Warner sharpened a shared critique of land schemes, lobbying, and the new alliance between money and politics. Readers interested in American literary history, political satire, or the origins of modern critiques of capitalism will find The Gilded Age indispensable. Though less structurally refined than Twain's later masterpieces, it remains vigorous, funny, and unsettlingly current—a foundational novel for understanding how American optimism can become self-deception.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.7 (13.1K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing, StoryGraph
GenreHumor, Literary Classics
Length19 hrs 7 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJul 18, 2020
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Gilded Age (Annotated)
26Chapter XXI
2Introduction
27Chapter XXII
3Synopsis
28Chapter XXIII
4Historical Context
29Chapter XXIV
5Author Biography
30Chapter XXV
Show all chaptersShow less
6Chapter I
31Chapter XXVI
7Chapter II
32Chapter XXVII
8Chapter III
33Chapter XXVIII
9Chapter IV
34Chapter XXIX
10Chapter V
35Chapter XXX
11Chapter VI
36Chapter XXXI
12Chapter VII
37Chapter XXXII
13Chapter VIII
38Chapter XXXIII
14Chapter IX
39Chapter XXXIV
15Chapter X
40Chapter XXXV
16Chapter XI
41Chapter XXXVI
17Chapter XII
42Chapter XXXVII
18Chapter XIII
43Chapter XXXVIII
19Chapter XIV
44Chapter XXXIX
20Chapter XV
45Chapter XL
21Chapter XVI
46Chapter XLI
22Chapter XVII
47Chapter XLII
23Chapter XVIII
48Chapter XLIII
24Chapter XIX
49Chapter XLIV
25Chapter XX
50Chapter XLV
Die schönsten Kinderbücher der WeltMark Twain, Johanna Spyri, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Selma Lagerlöf, Waldemar Bonsels, Lewis Carroll, Else Ury, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Gerdt von Bassewitz, Robert Louis Stevenson, David Friedrich Weinland, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Emmy von Rhoden, Agnes Sapper, Jack London286h 46m4.7 (12)$1 · $0.00
Auf den Spuren des amerikanischen Traums: Die größten AbenteuerromaneMark Twain, Jack London, James Fenimore Cooper, Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, Albert Daiber, Edgar Allan Poe, Max Brand, Charles Sealsfield, Friedrich Gerstäcker893h 13m4.5 (12)$1 · $0.00
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry FinnMark Twain19h 15m$1.99 · $0.00
El príncipe y el mendigoMark Twain7h 48m4.1 (148.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Sämtliche RomaneMark Twain108h 40m4.6 (33)$2 · $0.00
Las aventuras de Tom Sawyer (texto completo, con índice activo)Mark Twain8h 23m$9.99 · $0.00
The Golden Book of World's Greatest Mysteries – 60+ Whodunit Tales & Detective StoriesMark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Guy de Maupassant, Thomas Hardy, William Archer, Brander Matthews, Ambrose Bierce, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Wilkie Collins, E. F. Benson, M. R. James, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Anton Chekhov, Anna Katherine Green, W. F. Harvey, Fitz-James O'Brien, Katherine Rickford, Pliny the Younger, Helena Blavatsky, A. Conan Doyle, Villiers Adam, C. Moffett, F. Marryat, Théopile Gautier, L. Hearn, C. B. Fernando, R. L. Stevenson, T. W. Hanshew, Sir R. Anderson, R. A. Cram, Joseph L. French48h 44m3.7 (65)$1.99 · $0.00
The Ultimate Western CollectionMark Twain, James Fenimore Cooper, Max Brand, James Oliver Curwood, B. M. Bower, Zane Grey, Jackson Gregory, Jack London, William MacLeod Raine, William Patterson White, Rex Beach, Emerson Hough, Will Lillibridge, Andy Adams, Bret Harte, Owen Wister, Washington Irving, Willa Cather, O. Henry, Grace Livingston Hill, Charles King, Charles Alden Seltzer, Stephen Crane, Dane Coolidge, Marah Ellis Ryan, Francis William Sullivan, Frederic Homer Balch, Frederic Remington, Robert W. Chambers, Forrestine C. Hooker, James B. Hendryx, Frank H. Spearman, J. Allan Dunn, Ann S. Stephens, Robert E. Howard, Clarence E. Mulford, R.M. Ballantyne, Charles Siringo, Isabel E. Ostrander, Frederic Logan Paxson1013h 32m$1.99 · $0.00
Living to Tell the Horrid Tales: True Life Stories of Fomer Slaves, Historical Documents & NovelsMark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Aphra Behn, Thomas Clarkson, Daniel Drayton, Louis Hughes, Lydia Maria Child, James Weldon Johnson, Austin Steward, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Moses Grandy, William Wells Brown, William Still, Nat Turner, Henry Bibb, Olaudah Equiano, Sojourner Truth, Mary Prince, Kate Drumgoold, Frederick Douglass, Brantz Mayer, Theodore Canot, Booker T. Washington, Elizabeth Keckley, Albion Winegar Tourgée, Charles Ball, Solomon Northup, Josiah Henson, Stephen Smith, Harriet E. Wilson, Ellen Craft, William Craft, John Gabriel Stedman, Charles W. Chesnutt, Sarah H. Bradford, Sutton E. Griggs, Lucy A. Delaney, L. S. Thompson, F. G. De Fontaine, Henry Box Brown, John Dixon Long, Harriet Jacobs, Jacob D. Green, Thomas S. Gaines, Willie Lynch, Margaretta Matilda Odell, Joseph Mountain331h 6m$1.99 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Mark Twain (Illustrated) (Annotated)Mark Twain154h 22m4.5 (4.3K)$2 · $0.00
Tom Sawyer als Detektiv (Von Huck Finn erzählt) (Kommentiert)Mark Twain4h 3m3.7 (7.8K)$1 · $0.00
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn (Illustrated Edition) (Annotated)Mark Twain20h 26m4.4 (7.5K)$2 · $0.00
On Masturbation: "Some Thoughts on the Science of Onanism" (Annotated)Mark Twain1h 49m3.8 (604)$2 · $0.00
Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn – The Great American Adventure (Illustrated) (Annotated)Mark Twain35h 5m4.4 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00
The Complete Speeches of Mark Twain (Annotated)Mark Twain8h 29m4.3 (23)$2 · $0.00
The Mysterious Stranger (Annotated)Mark Twain5h 41m$2 · $0.00
Die Abenteuer des Huckleberry Finn (Kommentiert)Mark Twain12h 44m$1 · $0.00
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Illustrated) (Annotated)Mark Twain9h 33m4.2 (48.4K)$2 · $0.00
Time Voyage - Boxed Set (Annotated)Mark Twain, Ayn Rand, Andre Norton, H. Beam Piper, Lester Del Rey, Frederik Pohl, Fritz Leiber, Philip K. Dick, August Derleth, H. G. Wells53h 21m$2 · $0.00
Meisterwerke der englischen Satire (Kommentiert)Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Jerome Klapka Jerome, Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, William Makepeace Thackeray, Jane Austen, Tobias Smollett, G. K. Chesterton, Lewis Carroll, Sinclair Lewis183h 50m$2 · $0.00
Lost In TranslationAudrey Davis9h 15m4.4 (235)$17 · $0.00
Love That StoryJonathan Van Ness5h 44m4.2 (10.4K)$24 · $0.00
Kingsblood Royal (Annotated)Sinclair Lewis14h 42m4.6 (264)$2 · $0.00
This Is Going to HurtAdam Kay5h 47m4.4 (444.7K)$24 · $0.00
You Will Get Through This NightDaniel Howell6h 56m4.4 (11.8K)$24 · $0.00
Northanger Abbey (Annotated)Jane Austen10h 7m4.5 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
My Dear HamiltonStephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie23h 7m4.4 (63.6K)$46 · $0.00
THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS & SCREWTAPE PROPOSES A TOAST (Annotated)C. S. Lewis5h 6m4.4 (471K)$2 · $0.00
BufferingHannah Hart5h 55m4.4 (12.4K)$24 · $0.00
The Office BFFsJenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey8h 26m4.3 (45.4K)$26 · $0.00
The Collected Stories of Dorothy ParkerDorothy Parker8h 36m4.3 (13.6K)$1 · $0.00
LambChristopher Moore15h 22m4.3 (211.3K)$33 · $0.00
#IMomSoHardKristin Hensley, Jen Smedley7h 19m4.3 (7.3K)$24 · $0.00
Mixed PlateJo Koy8h 18m4.3 (7.1K)$26 · $0.00
Over the TopJonathan Van Ness5h 50m4.3 (87.3K)$24 · $0.00
It Never EndsTom Scharpling8h 53m4.4 (2.3K)$20 · $0.00
More Tales of the CityArmistead Maupin8h 23m4.3 (22.6K)$26 · $0.00
Joyful Recollections of TraumaPaul Scheer6h 38m4.3 (8.2K)$7 · $0.00
More Than a WomanCaitlin Moran9h 31m4.3 (16.8K)$29 · $0.00
FamesickLena Dunham11h 46m4.3 (49.7K)$29 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
Twelfth Night (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography (Annotated)William Shakespeare, Sidney Lee16h 38m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 40m4.6 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 54m4.5 (10.6K)$2 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
The North American IndianEdward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge6h4.5 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Uncensored 13 Chapter Version + The Revised 20 Chapter Version (Annotated)Oscar Wilde16h 12m4.5 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Grimoire Of The Everyday WitchIsadora Lys / Virginia Santos5h 35m4.5 (3.9K)$9 · $0.00
Winnie-the-PoohAlan Alexander Milne2h 52m4.5 (401.1K)$3 · $0.00
Sitting PrettyRebekah Taussig7h 33m4.5 (18.9K)$26 · $0.00
The Poetic Edda & The Prose EddaSnorri Sturluson, Saemund Sigfusson9h 34m4.5 (4K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Satires & Essays of Mark Twain (Annotated)Mark Twain23h 21m4.5 (1.1K)$2 · $0.00
Rilla of InglesideLucy Maud Montgomery10h 58m4.5 (46.7K)$1 · $0.00
The Posthumous Memoirs Of Brás CubasMachado De Assis7h 39m4.4 (120.4K)$5 · $0.00
The Iliad & The OdysseyHomer25h 12m4.4 (39K)$12 · $0.00
You may also like
Tartuffe; Or, The HypocriteMolière, 1622-16731h 46m3.9 (47.1K)Free
The Gilded AgeMark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner16h 32m3.6 (13.3K)$28
The Gilded Age, A Tale of TodayMark Twain15h 58m3.6 (21.5K)$1 · $0.00
The AbductionJames Grippando2h 48m4.1 (1.6K)$18 · $0.00
Amelia — CompleteHenry Fielding22h 38m3.6 (1.5K)$2.30 · $0.00
Lost LakePhillip Margolin5h 34m3.8 (3.6K)$24 · $0.00
An Ideal HusbandOscar Wilde3h 41m4.2 (68.4K)$1.20 · $0.00
Lost LakePhillip Margolin10h 3m3.8 (4.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Charles Dickens: Novels, Short Stories, Plays, Poetry, Essays, Articles, Speeches, Travel Sketches & Letters (Illustrated)Charles Dickens817h 44m4.4 (1.7K)$2 · $0.00
Celebrated Crimes (Complete)Alexandre Dumas68h 7m4.0 (2K)$2 · $0.00
Our Mutual FriendCharles Dickens35h 43m4.1 (45.4K)$5 · $0.00
Baby Brother’s BluesPearl Cleage10h 30m4.0 (2K)$30
Dead SoulsNikolai Vasilevich Gogol13h 2m4.0 (115.2K)Free
Pieces of HerKarin Slaughter16h 5m4.0 (184.2K)$33 · $0.00
The Collected Short Stories: The Necklace + The Piece of String + Boule de Suif + Mademoiselle Fifi + Pierrot + Two Friends + La Maison Tellier + Ghosts and much more (Annotated)Guy de Maupassant87h 26m4.4 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
The President’s DaughterMariah Stewart10h 35m4.0 (1.7K)$20
An Ideal HusbandOscar Wilde3h 40m4.2 (53.1K)$4 · $0.00
An Ideal HusbandOscar Wilde3h 41m4.1 (54.8K)$4.70 · $0.00
Everyone on This Train Is a SuspectBenjamin Stevenson8h 28m3.9 (93.8K)$26 · $0.00
Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens33h 5m3.9 (24.3K)$2 · $0.00