A New Introduction to American Studies

by Temperley,Howard

• ISBN13: 9780582894372
• ISBN10: 0582894379
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2005-11-10
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

A NEW INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN STUDIES conveys, through 16 broad-ranging and superbly written essays, the continuing importance of American Studies and the excitement to be gained from its study. Replacing the classic AN INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN STUDIES, this new book provides a comprehensive and clear-sighted re-evaluation of America's place in the world and the often tangled paths that led her there. All the essays have been newly commissioned for this edition and draw on the expertise of younger scholars, whose ideas reflect the changes that have transformed the discipline in the last 25 years. A NEW INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN STUDIES thus provides a wholly contemporary view of the central themes and pre-occupations of American life. Ideals such as the commitment to liberty, equality and material progress are fully examined and new light is shed on the sometimes contradictory ways in which these ideals have informed the nation's history and culture. Vital, engaged and thoroughly engaging, A NEW INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN STUDIES is essential reading for all students of America, it's history, literature and politics. The general reader, too, will find much of interest in this sophisticated and subtle exploration of the diverse factors that have shaped - and continue to shape - the America we think we know today.Howard Temperley is Emeritus Professor of American History at the University of East Anglia. Christopher Bigsby is Professor of American Studies and Director of the Arthur Miller Centre at the University of East Anglia.

Table of Contents

Publisher's acknowledgements	viii
Chronology	ix
Introduction	1	(6)
The human and natural environment	7	(22)
Peter Coates
From settlement to independence	29	(21)
Colin Bonwick
American political culture	50	(25)
Adam I. P. Smith
Slavery and secession	75	(23)
Howard Temperley
Native Americans	98	(25)
Gail D. MacLeitch
Revisiting the American West	123	(24)
Margaret Walsh
American immigration	147	(23)
Axel R. Schafer
Nineteenth-century American literature	170	(28)
Allan Lloyd Smith
Industry and technology	198	(22)
Christopher Clark
The twentieth-century American novel	220	(20)
John Whitley
Twentieth-century American poetry	240	(33)
Daniel Kane
Twentieth-century American drama	273	(29)
Christopher Bigsby
American and war	302	(24)
Brian Holden Reid
American women	326	(26)
Elizabeth J. Clapp
Popular culture	352	(24)
Nick Hefferman
America at the millennium	376	(21)
Richard Crockatt
Maps	397	(6)
Notes on the contributors	403	(4)
Index	407