First published between 1982 and 1983, this series examines the peculiarly American cultural context out of which the nation s literature has developed. Covering the years from 1620 to 1830, this first volume of "American Literature in Context" examines a range of texts from the writings of the Puritan settlers through the declaration of Independence to the novels of Fenimore Cooper. In doing so, it shows how early Americans thought about their growing nation, their arguments for immigration, for political and cultural independence, and the doubts they experienced in this ambitious...

First published between 1982 and 1983, this series examines the peculiarly American cultural context out of which the nation s literature has developed. Covering the years from 1830 to 1865, this second volume of "American Literature in Context" examines twelve major American writers of the three decades before the Civil War, including Edgar Allan Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville and Walt Whitman. The book also analyses the writing of two contemporary historians, an intellectual Journalist and Abraham Lincoln. Among the major themes discussed the religious...

First published between 1982 and 1983, this series examines the peculiarly American cultural context out of which the nation s literature has developed. Covering the years from 1865 to 1900, this third volume of "American Literature in Context" focuses on the struggles of American writers to make sense of their rapidly changing world. In addition to such major figures as Walt Whitman, Henry James, Emily Dickinson and Mark Twain, it analyses the writings of an unorthodox economist (Henry George), a Utopian reformer (Edward Bellamy) and a critical sociologist (Thorstein Veblen). Particular...

First published between 1982 and 1983, this series examines the peculiarly American cultural context out of which the nation s literature has developed. Covering the years from 1900 to 1930, this fourth volume of "American Literature in Context" focuses on how American literature dealt with the challenges of the period including the First World War and the stock market crash. It examines key writers of the time such as Henry James, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, F Scott Fitzgerald and Eugene O Neill who, unlike many Americans who sought escape, confronted reality, providing a rich and varied...

First published between 1982 and 1983, this series examines the peculiarly American cultural context out of which the nation s literature has developed. Covering the years from 1620 to 1930, these four volumes present a coherent, consecutive and comprehensive sequence of interpretations of major American texts, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama. Every chapter includes an extract from the chosen text which serves as a springboard for wider discussion and analysis. Each analysis demonstrates how students can move into and then from the pages of literature to a consideration of...