Allyn & Bacon / Prentice Hall

Interdisciplinary Studies



A New Introduction to American Studies
Howard Temperley, Emeritus Professor, American Studies at the University of East Anglia
Chris Bigsby, University of East Anglia

ISBN-10: 0582894379
ISBN-13: 9780582894372

Publisher: Longman
Copyright: 2006
Format: Paper; 432 pp
Published: 11/21/2005

Suggested retail price: $46.80
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A New Introduction to American Studies provides a coherent portrait of American history, literature, politics, culture and society, and also deals with some of the central themes and preoccupations of American life. It will provoke students into thinking about what it actually means to study a culture.

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.

For introductory undergraduate courses in American Studies, American History and American Literature.

  • Writing team form a distinguished collection of experts
  • Reviews:
  • ‘For many years it has represented the best available introduction to American Studies for British students.’
  • ‘…a very useful book.’
  • ‘It is well written, engaging and thoughtful.’
  • ‘Students generally find it a useful text.’
  • ‘The book is of very high quality… the essays are well written and the arguments are clearly made.’

  • New thematic approach integrates literature and culture throughout the book
  • New chapter on women and more gender factors in general
  • New chapter on Native Americans
  • New chapter on slavery
  • More prominence given to popular culture e.g. new chapter focusing on Hollywood
  • New chapter on America in 21st century, looking at anti-Americanism and the impact of September 11
  • Coverage of immigration expanded, particularly in relation to Hispanic/Chicano Americans
  • Updated throughout to bring it up-to-date in terms of scholarship and coverage
  • Recommended reading listed at the end of each chapter

  1. The human and natural environment Peter Coates
  2. From settlement to independence Colin Bonwick 
  3. American political culture Adam I P Smith
  4. Slavery and secession Howard Temperley  
  5. Native Americans Gail D MacLeitch                                 
  6. Revisiting the American West Margaret Walsh              
  7. American immigration Axel R. Schafer                                   
  8. Nineteenth-century American literature Allan Lloyd Smith       
  9. Industry and technology Christopher Clark                           
  10. The twentieth-century American novel John Whitley       
  11. Twentieth-century American poetry Daniel Kane               
  12. Twentieth-century American drama Christopher Bigsby        
  13. America and war Brian Holden Reid                        
  14. American women Elizabeth J Clapp                       
  15. Popular culture Nick Heffernan                                  
  16. America at the millennium Richard Crockatt            

 

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.

 

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