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Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, Volumes 1 & 2

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, Volumes 1 & 2

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Genre(s): ,

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Number of Chapters: 75

Length: 15 hours and 18 minutes

Language: English

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in the words of the published book, "Freely Translated out of the Ancient French into Modern English from the Original Unpublished Manuscript in the National Archives of France."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)

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