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
About the Author
Richard Gray is Professor of Literature at the University of Essex and former Distinguished Visiting Professor at a number of universities in the United States. He is the first specialist in American literature to be elected a Fellow of the British Academy and has published over a dozen books on the topic, including the award-winning Writing the South (Ideas of an American Region (1986) and The Life of William Faulkner: A Critical Biography (1944). His History of American Literature is widely considered to be one of the standard works on the subject.
