Upon reading the strewn pages, Clemens inquired of his mother whether Joan of Arc was a real person or a myth. As he wrote: “I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well. The others needed no preparation and got none.”Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc was published in 1896 and is considered one of Twain's best works. Joan of Arc appealed to his sense of chivalry and belief in adolescent purity. Unlike Joan of Arc, Twain could not accept the reality of human suffering, the tragedy of life or the redemptive meaning of the cross.