Henry James on Culture: Collected Essays on Politics and the American Social Scene

Abstract

on Culture is a collection of eighteen articles by Henry on the social and political issues of his day. Eight of them have never before been published in book form, and the remainders 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' 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' only publication on religion and metaphysics, Is There a Life after Death? It presents James' view of the possibility of an afterlife and is also interesting in 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' writings on World War I. Deeply affected by the war's outbreak, wrote touching and profound essays on the meaning of the war to the world he knew. These articles are among the great works of World War I literature. Pierre A. Walker is an associate professor of English at Salem State College. He is the co-general editor of The Complete Letters of Henry James (Nebraska forthcoming).

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