The Gilded Age, Part 4.

by Mark Twain

"The Gilded Age, Part 4." by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner is a satirical novel first published in 1873. Set in post-Civil War America, this collaboration skewers greed and political corruption through the story of the Hawkins family's quest for wealth through land speculation. At the center is Laura Hawkins, who becomes a Washington lobbyist, and two young men seeking fortune through land investment. With memorable characters like the eternally optimistic Colonel Beriah Sellers, the novel exposes the moral decay beneath America's glittering surface—giving an entire era its lasting name.