The eighteen essays in this collection show Henry James (1843-1916) in a new and unexpected light--as a political commentator and social reformer. His acute powers of observation, his unerring feel for social nuance, and his abiding interest in the news, conversations, and controversies of the moment make these essays a witty and entertaining illumination of American, British, European, and colonial society in the years from 1878 to 1917. Included are writings on British politics and diplomacy, on the language and manners ...
Read More
The eighteen essays in this collection show Henry James (1843-1916) in a new and unexpected light--as a political commentator and social reformer. His acute powers of observation, his unerring feel for social nuance, and his abiding interest in the news, conversations, and controversies of the moment make these essays a witty and entertaining illumination of American, British, European, and colonial society in the years from 1878 to 1917. Included are writings on British politics and diplomacy, on the language and manners of Americans, on the possibility of an afterlife, and on the heroism and human costs of the First World War. Among the subjects that interest James are France's infatuation with the Prince of Wales, the trumped-up excuses for war in Afghanistan, the brutal frankness of Bismarck, the parliamentary games of Gladstone and Disraeli, the rise of Zulu power in South Africa, the use of "yeah" and "yup" for the American affirmative, the fearlessness of American women and their immunity from criticism, the effect of chewing gum on the discussion of opera, the sufferings of Americans at the hands of store clerks, the proper degrees of gratitude for roadside bicycle repairs, the work of the American Volunteer Motor Ambulance Corps, the use of the dash, the tyranny of the newspapers, the sinking of the Lusitania , and the conditions in military hospitals. Pierre A. Walker is a professor of English at Salem State College and co-general editor of The Complete Letters of Henry James (Nebraska 2006).
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has soft covers. Clean from markings. In good all round condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 500grams, ISBN: 9780803276192.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
First edition first impression 1999. Pierre A. Walker (Editor). xliv+226 pages. Cloth. Fine in dustjacket. "Henry James on Culture" is a collection of eighteen articles by Henry James on the social and political issues of his day. Eight of them have never before been published in book form, and the remainder have not, until now, been easily accessible. These essays reveal a previously neglected side of James. Some of the writings concern British imperial politics and crises in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and South Africa. Others were written during and after James's 1904-5 tour of the United States. They focus on questions of gender and manners and complement the best-known work resulting from that trip, The American Scene. Also included is James's only publication on religion and metaphysics, "Is There a Life after Death? ". It presents James's view of the possibility of an afterlife and is also interesting in the light of work by his philosopher brother and his theologian father on the same subject. Finally, the book groups for the first time in one volume all of James's writings on the First World War. Deeply affected by the war's outbreak, James wrote touching and profound essays on the meaning of the war to the world he knew. These articles are among the great works of First World War literature.
