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Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims' Progress was published by American author Mark Twain in 1869. The travel-book chronicles Twain's pleasure cruise through Europe and the Holy Land with a group of religious pilgrims. Twain makes constant criticisms of various aspects of culture and society he meets while on his journey, some more serious than others, which gradually turn from witty and comedic to biting and bitter as he progresses closer to the Holy Land.
Much of his criticisms within the chronicle are based on comparisons between the grandiose (and often apocryphal) writings and perceptions of his contemporaries that were considered in high regard as sources of indispensible information for travelling in the environments mentioned within the work. He also equally makes light of his fellow travellers as he does the natives of the various countries and regions he visits. However, the majority of the second half of the work ridicules much of the accepted Christian canon dealing with the Holy Lands, up to and including the site purporting to be the tomb of Jesus Christ.
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