In the American Grain (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition)

First published in 1925, In the American Grain is a daring and provocative investigation into the origins of American identity. In this hybrid work-at once fiction, history, and criticism-Williams reimagines figures linked to the nation's past, from Columbus, Cortés, Montezuma, and Cotton Mather to Jacaqata, Aaron Burr, Edgar Allan Poe, and Lincoln to uncover the restless, contradictory impulses shaping America still today. In twenty-one kaleidoscopic essays written in different styles for each subject, Williams does not simply recall but responds creatively to the past so it may properly guide actions in the present. These admiring, caustic, and visionary portraits coalesce into a major contribution to ongoing debates over the proper ways of telling American history. With a a biographical timeline and a new introduction that situates the book within contemporary debates and explains its enduring significance.