Once upon a time, there was a cub reporter by the name of Mark Twain. One hundred and fifty years ago, he went on a big trip that took him from New York (on the retired Civil War ship Quaker City) to Europe, northern Africa, and, ultimately, the Holy Land. He was 31 at the time, and paid his way writing dispatches for a San Francisco newspaper. Those dispatches, which looked at the clashes between history and the modern world, wound up becoming young Twain’s bestselling “The Innocents Abroad.’’

On Monday night at 8, WGBH World will air a documentary about that famous voyage, called “Mark Twain’s Journey to Jerusalem: Dreamland.’’ Narrated by Martin Sheen, the film includes interviews with experts and some reenactments. It features archival material — Twain’s handwritten notes, letters, journals, the oldest video ever shot in Jerusalem, and recorded video of Twain. And, of course, it delivers some of Twain’s great lines, including, “There ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them, than to travel with them.’’

Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert.