Tom Canty, the urchin, learns how luxury and power can become the death of a man, while his doppleg nger roams his kingdom, learning first hand of the cruelty of the Tudor monarchy. . . .

"Twain was . . . enough of a genius to build his morality into his books, with humor and wit and -- in the case of The Prince and the Pauper -- wonderful plotting."
-- E.L. Doctorow