A Brief History Of American Literature

Updated throughout and with much new material, A History of American Literature, Second Edition, is the most up-to-date and comprehensive survey available of the myriad forms of American Literature from pre-Columbian times to the present. The most comprehensive and up-to-date history of American literature available today Covers fiction, poetry, drama, and non-fiction, as well as other forms of literature including folktale, spirituals, the detective story, the thriller, and science fiction Explores the plural character of American literature, including the contributions made by African American, Native American, Hispanic and Asian American writers Considers how our understanding of American literature has changed over the past?thirty years Situates American literature in the contexts of American history, politics and society Offers an invaluable introduction to American literature for students at all levels, academic and general readers

A Brief History of American Literature offers students and general readers a concise and up-to-date history of the full range of American writing from its origins until the present day. Represents the only up-to-date concise history of American literature Covers fiction, poetry, drama and non-fiction, as well as looking at other forms of literature including folktales, spirituals, the detective story, the thriller and science fiction Considers how our understanding of American literature has changed over the past twenty years Offers students an abridged version of History of American Literature, a book widely considered the standard survey text Provides an invaluable introduction to the subject for students of American literature, American studies and all those interested in the literature and culture of the United States

Volume I of The Cambridge History of American Literature was originally published in 1997, and covers the colonial and early national periods and discusses the work of a diverse assemblage of authors, from Renaissance explorers and Puritan theocrats to Revolutionary pamphleteers and poets and novelists of the new republic. Addressing those characteristics that render the texts distinctively American while placing the literature in an international perspective, the contributors offer a compelling new evaluation of both the literary importance of early American history and the historical value of early American literature.

Originally published in 1924, this book presents a historical guide to American literature, from the colonial era through to the late nineteenth century. The text is broad in scope, incorporating studies of philosophical, historical and political writers, alongside detailed accounts of key literary figures such as Poe and Whitman. A comprehensive bibliography is also included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in literary criticism and the history of American literature.

Excerpt from A Brief History of American Literature In this book, which is designed for the use of schools, I - have endeavoured to furnish a condensed account of the development of American literature, rather than a series of connected essays on leading American authors. At the same time I have tried to mention no writer or book devoid of a fair amount of significance, and I have also had it in mind to treat the more important authors on a scale sufficiently extended to suit the needs of the average class. I have aimed to minimize tentative criticism and to give only such details of historical setting as could not well be spared. I have condensed the bibliographical information to dimensions more or less proportionate with the resources of school libraries and have divided it into sections according to chapters. The period from 1866 to the present day has been sketched in a chapter, fuller treatment of writers, many of whom are still living, not seeming advisable in view of the difficulty of maintaining an impartial attitude toward contemporaries. An appendix gives important dates, which may be used in lieu of those scattered through the text. Topics for essays and class reports will be often suggested by the paragraph headings, and teachers may sometimes find it advantageous, when time permits, to have reports made on writers and books mentioned in the Appendix but not in the text, as well as on topics treated more fully in my larger book, "A History of American Literature, 1607-1865" (1903, Appleton). About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.