Historical Guides to American Authors:The new Historical Guides series is an interdisciplinary, historically sensitive series that combines close attention to the United States' most widely read and studied authors with a strong sense of time, place, and history. Placing each writer in the context of the vibrant relationship between literature and society, volumes in the series contain historical essays written on subjects of contemporary social, political, and cultural relevance. They also includes a capsule biography and dual chronology detailing important cultural events as they coincided with the author's life and works, while photographs and illustrations of the period capture the flavor of the author's time and milieu. Accessible to all readers of American fiction, while providing insights useful to teachers and scholars, the volumes offer a complete and rounded picture of each author in his or her America.