To fairly compare contemporary figures like Britney Spears against the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, we adjusted for the fact that today’s stars will fade from living memory over the next several generations. Historically significant figures leave statistical evidence of their presence behind, if one knows where to look for it, and we used several data sources to fuel our ranking algorithms, including Wikipedia, scanned books and Google n-grams. Arthur (who we rank as the 499 th most significant person in history) is more historically significant than young pop singer Justin Bieber (currently ranked 8633), even though he may have a less devoted following and lower contemporary name recognition. Significance is related to fame but measures something different. We ranked historical figures just as Google ranks web pages, by integrating a diverse set of measurements about their reputation into a single consensus value. Instead, we evaluated each person by aggregating millions of traces of opinions into a computational data-centric analysis. When we set out to rank the significance of historical figures, we decided to not approach the project the way historians might, through a principled assessment of their individual achievements. Read more about why we love this book in our journal here.Follow bigger: Washington or Lincoln? Hitler or Napoleon? Charles Dickens or Jane Austen? That depends on how you look at it. You can view an illustrated copy of Joan of Arc here. Give as: A get-well-soon gift to a loved one who is bedridden or as a graduation gift for someone you know will make the world a better place. Give to: Your mother or a dear friend who exemplifies kindness, courage and purity.

Second and harder, try to discern what themes are playing out in your life and what action is required of you. Few are more lovable than little Joan from Domremy and we are privileged through Twain’s creation to bask in her twinkling childhood before launching into her divinely directed mission and undaunted adolescence. This was a brilliant decision and one that impacts the entire tone of the book and allows for instructive character creation. One splendid element of this book is that it is written from the fictional point of view of Joan’s childhood friend and later personal secretary.

We will, however, tell you some of the magic Twain weaves into his version of her story.

We don't want to tell much about the book because the delight was in knowing very little when we picked it up. We can't recommend this book more highly. Mark Twain considered this his life's work, but few have ever heard of it.

Mark twain joan of arc first edition