This book provides a backdrop to the study of American literature. Surveying over four hundred years of American history, it analyses the milieu that determined and defined literary representation and expression, and was responsible for the creation of writers and, indeed, readers. It seeks to understand the historical, social and natural environment that prevailed in different periods of American history, and its impact on literature.

Nandana Dutta teaches at the Department of English, Gauhati University.

The series editor
Pramod K. Nayar teaches at the Department of English, University of Hyderabad. His most recent books include The Transnational in English Literature: Shakespeare to the Modern (2015), Citizenship and Identity in the Age of Surveillance (2015), The Postcolonial Studies Dictionary (2015) and Postcolonial Studies: An Anthology (2015). His forthcoming work includes a book on the Indian graphic novel.

Political Map of the United States of America
List of American Presidents
Series Editor’s Preface
Author’s Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. The Seventeenth Century
2. The Eighteenth Century
3. The Nineteenth Century: 1800 to 1865
4. The Nineteenth Century: Post-Civil War
5. The Twentieth Century: 1900 to 1945
6. The Twentieth Century: The Post-World War Era
7. The Twenty-first Century

Index