One of the tragic truths of our history has been the fact that almost every generation has known the terrible trauma of war. For Mark Twain's generation - the war was the Civil War. To Mark Twain, war was the supreme folly and why not? Wasn't warfare something that was invented and conducted by mankind? And wasn't the entire human race the greatest joke that our creator played on the universe. Of course, that's why Mark Twain wrote the story we're about to hear.