Nation & Nationalism

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton is a tragicomedy of manners that explores themes of greed, ruthless ambition, progress, and gendered ideas. Wharton, who was herself a member of the New York City elite, was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, and her novels are pieces of classic American literature for their social commentary, multilayered characters, and analysis of American culture.Published in 1913, this novel can be read as... Read The Custom of the Country Summary

The Declaration of Independence is one of the founding documents of the United States of America. The text was written primarily by Thomas Jefferson in June of 1776 after the Second Continental Congress appointed him the chair of the Committee of Five (the others were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman), a group designated to draft a statement declaring the American colonies independent from Great Britain. Jefferson based his draft on existing... Read The Declaration of Independence Summary

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Written by American author Stephen Vincent Benét, “The Devil and Daniel Webster” is a variation on the Faust myth. Benét’s story tackles themes such as The Devil in America, Patriotism and the Limits of Loyalty, and The Nature of Justice. The story first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in 1936, though it was later republished in Benét’s collection of stories titled Thirteen O’Clock in 1937. The story subsequently received the O. Henry Award, earning... Read The Devil and Daniel Webster Summary

The Dispossessed tells the story of its protagonist Shevek’s journey from his home on a desolate, isolated moon to the abundant planet around which his society revolves. Shevek is an Odinian physicist from the planet of Urras, a socialist planet without a central government that follows the teachings of the revolutionary Odo. Upon settling Urras, Odinians refused contact with their former home, the planet Anarres: the only exchange between the planets occurs as mined goods... Read The Dispossessed Summary

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First published in 1954, The Eagle of the Ninth is the first of three novels constituting English author Rosemary Sutcliff’s Roman Britain trilogy, all of which are connected through the emerald ring belonging to the family of Marcus Flavius Aquila. A work of historical fiction, The Eagle of the Ninth draws upon two historical events. One is the disappearance of the Ninth Legion of the Roman Army around the year AD 117 after they departed... Read The Eagle of the Ninth Summary

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The Farming of Bones, by Edwidge Danticat, was originally published in 1998. The novel’s setting is the Dominican Republic and the surplus of the book takes place in the late 1930s. Amabelle Désir, orphan and servant to Señora Valencia and her father, Papi, finds herself going above and beyond the call of duty as she delivers Señora Valencia’s twin babies. When the doctor arrives, he comments on Amabelle’s stellar abilities as a midwife, and suggests... Read The Farming Of Bones Summary

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The Great Train Robbery (1975) by Michael Crichton is a fictionalized account of the Great Gold Robbery of 1855. It details the actions of criminal mastermind Edward Pierce and his co-conspirators as they plan and execute the heist of £12,000 of gold from a train in London. This historical thriller analyzes Victorian beliefs about crime in the context of a rapidly changing society overwhelmed by industrialization. Historically, Pierce’s successful heist shocked a nation that believed... Read The Great Train Robbery Summary

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Anthropologist David Treuer’s The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present (2019) revives Indigenous history and centers Indigenous people as subjects, not as mere victims of American avarice. It was a finalist for the National Book Award in Nonfiction. Treuer is a member of the Ojibwe tribe from the Leech Lake Reservation in north-central Minnesota. He has a doctorate in anthropology, teaches at the University of Southern California, and is the... Read The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee Summary