A History of American Literature Since 1870

A scholarly survey traces the development of American letters in the postwar decades, arguing that the period produced a distinct national literature. The study divides the era into three phases and concentrates on poetry, fiction, and the essay while largely excluding history and drama. It discusses major movements and regional schools—humor, nature writing, regional fiction, and later poetry—through chapters on leading practitioners such as Twain, Bret Harte, and Whitman. The narrative follows shifts in themes and form, the rise of the short story, and critical reactions, and it limits its scope to authors whose formative work appeared before the early 1890s.