The importance of Native American realism is traced through a study of the evolution of dramatic theory from the early 1890s through World War I and the uniquely American innovations in realistic drama between world wars.

Between 1842 and 1908, Bronson Howard wrote 27 plays which appeared under 39 different titles, and had opening nights in New York, London and Berlin. This study is both a historical biography and critical analysis of the literature, concluding with an attempt to place his work in critical perspective both in terms of his own era, and ours. In addition to his best-known play, the often-anthologized civil war spectacle Shenandoah, it examines his other works such as Saratoga, Young Mrs Winthrop, One of Our Girls and The Henrietta.