Gary Scott Smith, Grove City College

Gary Scott Smith taught at Grove City College from 1978 to 2017 where he chaired the History Department and coordinated the Humanities Core. He received Grove City's inaugural Professor of the Year award in 2000, and the next year he was named Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. He is the author or editor of seventeen books.

"In his masterful analysis of Twain's life and thought, Smith examines Twain's changing theological views as well his attitudes toward the moral corruption and indifference of his day. More broadly, Smith's insightful study offers a window into the nature and role of Protestantism in Gilded Age American culture and its complex relationship with economic exploitation, imperialism, political greed, poverty, and racism...Crisply written and richly documented, Smith's engaging biography makes an outstanding contribution to American religious history." -- Paul Kemeny, Journal of Ecclesiastical History

"This book possesses two conspicuous strengths. First, it amply demonstrates the Jekyll and Hyde quality of Twain's approach to orthodox Christianity, Secondly, this book vividly displays the trifold social function of Twain's speaking and writings...Smith convinces the reader that Twain was indeed a social philosopher thinking and writing about the most pressing problems of his era." -- Matthew Turnbull, Mark Twain Journal

"The book is an exciting revision of Twain as a thinker about religion, if not a religious thinker. This book is a solid guide to Twain's lifelong struggle with religious ideas." -- J. W. Miller, Gonzaga University, Choice Connect