Samuel Clemens was an old-style liberal of the 19th century sort who believed in economic liberty and warned about the depredations of state power. The failure of many critics to understand the old liberal perspective may be part of the reason his political outlook is so widely misunderstood. His liberalism is woven into the fabric of his most famous works: The Prince and the Pauper and his series of stories involving Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.