A companion to American fiction, 1780-1865

This Companion presents the current state of criticism in the field of American fiction from the earliest declarations of nationhood to secession and civil war.

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• Draws heavily on historical and cultural contexts in its consideration of American fiction
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• Relates the fiction of the period to conflicts about territory and sovereignty and to issues of gender, race, ethnicity and identity
  
• Covers different forms of fiction, including children’s literature, sketches, polemical pieces, historical romances, Gothic novels and novels of exploration
  
• Considers both canonical and lesser-known authors, including James Fennimore Cooper, Hannah Foster, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville and Harriet Beecher Stowe
  
• Treats neglected topics, such as the Western novel, science and the novel, and American fiction in languages other than English