This book, with its companion volumes "The shores of light" and "Classics and commercials", provides a chronicle of the literary world in America and Europe from the twenties to the present.

This book offers a history of literary criticism from Plato to the present, arguing that this history can best be seen as a dialogue among three traditions - the Platonic, Neoplatonic, and the humanistic, originated by Aristotle. There are many histories of literary criticism, but this is the first to clarify our understanding of the many seemingly incommensurable approaches employed over the centuries by reference to the three traditions. Making its case by careful analyses of individual critics, the book argues for the relevance of the humanistic tradition in the twenty-first century and beyond.

The Cambridge Handbook of American Literature offers a compact and accessible guide to the major landmarks of American literature.