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  3. Cambridge Companions to American Studies

A series of Companions to key figures in American history and culture, aimed at students of American studies, history and literature. Each volume features newly commissioned essays by experts in the field, with a chronology and guide to further reading.

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8 results in Cambridge Companions to American Studies

The Cambridge Companion to Alfred Hitchcock
  • Edited by Jonathan Freedman
  • Published online:
    05 August 2015
    Print publication:
    08 July 2015
  • Alfred Hitchcock was, despite his English origins and early career, an American master. Arriving on US shores in 1939, for the next three decades he created a series of masterpieces that redefined the nature and possibilities of cinema itself: Rebecca, Notorious, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Vertigo and Psycho, to name just a few. In this Companion, leading film scholars and critics of American culture and imagination trace Hitchcock's interplay with the Hollywood studio system, the Cold War, and new forms of sexuality, gender and desire over his American career. This Companion explores the way in which Hitchcock was transformed by the country where he made his home and did much of his greatest work. This book will be invaluable as a guide for both fans and students of Hitchcock and twentieth-century American culture, providing a set of new perspectives on a much-loved and hugely influential director.

The Cambridge Companion to John F. Kennedy
  • Edited by Andrew Hoberek
  • Published online:
    05 May 2015
    Print publication:
    23 April 2015
  • John F. Kennedy remains central to both the American and the global imagination. Featuring essays by leading literary critics, historians, and film scholars, The Cambridge Companion to John F. Kennedy addresses such topics as Kennedy's youth in Boston and his time at Harvard, his foreign policy and his role in reshaping the US welfare state, his relationship to the civil rights and conservative movements, and the ongoing reverberations of his life and death in literature and film. Going beyond historical or biographical studies, these chapters explore the creation and afterlife of an icon, a figure who still embodies - and sparks debate about - what it means to be American.

The Cambridge Companion to Abraham Lincoln
  • Edited by Shirley Samuels
  • Published online:
    28 September 2012
    Print publication:
    23 July 2012
  • Abraham Lincoln's stature as an American cultural figure grows from his political legacy. In today's milieu, the speeches he delivered as the sixteenth president of the United States have become synonymous with American progress, values and exceptionalism. But what makes Lincoln's language so effective? Highlighting matters of style, affect, nationalism and history in nineteenth-century America, this collection examines the rhetorical power of Lincoln's prose – from the earliest legal decisions, stump speeches, anecdotes and letters, to the Gettysburg Address and the lingering power of the Second Inaugural Address. Through careful analysis of his correspondence with Civil War generals and his early poetry, the contributors, all literary and cultural critics, give readers a unique look into Lincoln's private life. Such a collection enables teachers, students, and readers of American history to assess the impact of this extraordinary writer – and rare politician – on the world's stage.

The Cambridge Companion to Malcolm X
  • Edited by Robert E. Terrill
  • Published online:
    28 May 2010
    Print publication:
    10 May 2010
  • Malcolm X is one of the most important figures in the twentieth-century struggle for equality in America. With the passing of time, and changing attitudes to race and religion in American society, the significance of a public figure like Malcolm X continues to evolve and to challenge. This Companion presents new perspectives on Malcolm X's life and legacy in a series of specially commissioned essays by prominent scholars from a range of disciplines. As a result, this is an unusually rich analysis of this important African American leader, orator, and cultural icon. Intended as a source of information on his life, career and influence and as an innovative substantive scholarly contribution in its own right, the book also includes an introduction, a chronology of the life of Malcolm X, and a select bibliography.

The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Jefferson
  • Edited by Frank Shuffelton
  • Published online:
    28 May 2009
    Print publication:
    22 January 2009
  • This Companion forms an accessible introduction to the life and work of Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence. Essays explore Jefferson's political thought, his policies towards Native Americans, his attitude to race and slavery, as well as his interests in science, architecture, religion and education. Contributors include leading literary scholars and historians; the essays offer up to date overviews of his many interests, his friendships and his legacy. Together, they reveal his importance in the cultural and political life of early America. At the same time these original essays speak to abiding modern concerns about American culture and Jefferson's place in it. This Companion will be essential reading for students and scholars of Jefferson, and is designed for use by students of American literature and American history.

The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan
  • Edited by Kevin J. H. Dettmar
  • Published online:
    28 May 2009
    Print publication:
    19 February 2009
  • A towering figure in American culture and a global twentieth-century icon, Bob Dylan has been at the centre of American life for over forty years. The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan brings fresh insights into the imposing range of Dylan's creative output. The first Part approaches Dylan's output thematically, tracing the evolution of Dylan's writing and his engagement with American popular music, religion, politics, fame, and his work as a songwriter and performer. Essays in Part II analyse his landmark albums to examine the consummate artistry of Dylan's most accomplished studio releases. As a writer Dylan has courageously chronicled and interpreted many of the cultural upheavals in America since World War II. This book will be invaluable both as a guide for students of Dylan and twentieth-century culture, and for his fans, providing a set of new perspectives on a much-loved writer and composer.

The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Franklin
  • Edited by Carla Mulford
  • Published online:
    28 January 2009
    Print publication:
    15 January 2009
  • Comprehensive and accessible, this Companion addresses several well-known themes in the study of Franklin and his writings, while also showing Franklin in conversation with his British and European counterparts in science, philosophy, and social theory. Specially commissioned chapters, written by scholars well-known in their respective fields, examine Franklin's writings and his life with a new sophistication, placing Franklin in his cultural milieu while revealing the complexities of his intellectual, literary, social, and political views. Individual chapters take up several traditional topics, such as Franklin and the American dream, Franklin and capitalism, and Franklin's views of American national character. Other chapters delve into Franklin's library and his philosophical views on morality, religion, science, and the Enlightenment and explore his continuing influence in American culture. This Companion will be essential reading for students and scholars of American literature, history and culture.

The Cambridge Companion to W. E. B. Du Bois
  • Edited by Shamoon Zamir
  • Published online:
    28 November 2008
    Print publication:
    11 September 2008
  • W. E. B. Du Bois was the pre-eminent African American intellectual of the twentieth century. As a pioneering historian, sociologist and civil rights activist, and as a novelist and autobiographer, he made the problem of race central to an understanding of the United States within both national and transnational contexts; his masterwork The Souls of Black Folk (1903) is today among the most widely read and most often quoted works of American literature. This Companion presents ten specially commissioned essays by an international team of scholars which explore key aspects of Du Bois's work. The book offers students a critical introduction to Du Bois, as well as opening new pathways into the further study of his remarkable career. It will be of interest to all those working in African American studies, American literature, and American studies generally.