Nation of Letters evokes the wisdom and artistic literary expression inherent in the American experience at its best. The editors have produced an anthology of manageable size and affordable length, one that can comfortably be carried to the classroom.

Beginning with Twain and Howells, the 127 selections include poetry, fiction, and essays, and span the decades through the poems of Ginsburg and Plath.

Stephen Cushman, professor of English at the University of Virginia, earned his doctorate at Yale University. His publications include several books, including Fictions of Form in American Poetry (1993) and William Carlos Williams and the Meaning of Measure (1985). He is currently working on a book about verbal and visual representations of the American Civil War.

Paul Newlin, who earned his doctorate at UCLA, has published studies on the writings of Poe, Bryant, Cooper, Hawthorne, Henry James, Stephen Crane, and Ricard Wright. A recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and the SUNY at Stony Brook President's Award for Excellence in Teaching, Newlin currently lives on Deer Isle, Maine.