Reading the American Novel 1865-1914

An indispensable tool for teachers and students of American literature, Reading the American Novel 1865-1914 provides a comprehensive introduction to the American novel in the post-civil war period.§Locates American novels and stories within a specific historical and literary context§Offers fresh analyses of key selected literary works§Addresses a wide audience of academics and non-academics in clear, accessible prose§Demonstrates the changing mentality of 19th-century America entering the 20th century§Explores the relationship between the intellectual and artistic output of the time and the turbulent socio-political contextAn indispensable tool for teachers and students of American literature, Reading the American Novel 1865-1914 provides a comprehensive introduction to the American novel in the post-civil war period. Leading literary scholar G. R. Thompson shares his insights into the fiction of one of the most pivotal periods in American literature, and each chapter offers both a lucid distillation of the key conditions of the historical and cultural contexts and a practical guide for studying literary works.§An accessible introduction to the literature of the period, this book demonstrates the changing mentality of 19th-century America entering the 20th century, framed between two monumental wars. Demonstrating different attitudes toward and representations of contemporary concerns as they appeared in literature, Thompson addresses the relationship between the intellectual and artistic output of the time and the turbulent socio-political context. Written in clear and accessible prose, with fresh insights and textual analysis, this is an illuminating read for anyone interested in 19th-century and early modern fiction, American literature, and American cultural history.