A unique survey and interpretive history, spanning 200 years, of the American bestseller.

The Founding Fathers are often revered as American saints; here are the stories of those Founders who were schemers and scoundrels, vying for their own interests ahead of the nation’s. We now have a clear-eyed understanding of Founding Fathers such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton; even so, they are often considered American saints, revered for their wisdom and self-sacrificing service to the nation. However, within the Founding Generation lurked many unscrupulous figures—men who violated the era’s expectation of public virtue and advanced their own interests at the expense of others. They were turncoats and traitors, opportunists and con artists, spies, and foreign intriguers. Some of their names are well known: Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr. Others are less notorious now but were no less threatening. There was Charles Lee, the Continental Army general who offered to tell the British how to defeat the Americans, and James Wilkinson, who served fifteen years as a commanding general in the US Army, despite rumors that he spied for Spain and conspired with traitors. The early years of the republic were full of self-interested individuals, sometimes succeeding in their plots, sometimes failing, but always shaping the young nation. A Republic of Scoundrels seeks to re-examine the Founding Generation and replace the hagiography of the Founding Fathers with something more realistic: a picture that embraces the many facets of our nation’s origins.

A comprehensive study guide offering in-depth explanation, essay, and test prep for Edward Everett Hale’s The Man Without a Country, a short story written during the Civil War. As a work of patriotic literature, The Man Without a Country bolstered support across the U.S. for the Union in the North. Moreover, Hale uses irony, mystery, and realism to tell the gripping story of a man who feels seemingly no patriotism or connection to his country during a war in which he must take part. This Bright Notes Study Guide explores the context and history of Hale’s classic work, helping students to thoroughly explore the reasons it has stood the literary test of time. Each Bright Notes Study Guide contains: - Introductions to the Author and the Work - Character Summaries - Plot Guides - Section and Chapter Overviews - Test Essay and Study Q&As The Bright Notes Study Guide series offers an in-depth tour of more than 275 classic works of literature, exploring characters, critical commentary, historical background, plots, and themes. This set of study guides encourages readers to dig deeper in their understanding by including essay questions and answers as well as topics for further research.

The Man Without a Country is a short story by Edward Everett Hale. Lieutenant Philip Nolan forsakes his nation during a court case for treachery, and is subsequently condemned to spend the rest of his life at sea.

Two Texts by Edward Everett Hale brings together one of the most popular stories of the nineteenth-century, "The Man Without a Country," with its novel-length sequel, Philip Nolan's Friends. As Hsuan Hsu and Susan Kalter show in this critical edition, these engaging works of fiction helped orient nineteenth-century Americans' opinions about citizenship, statelessness, imperialism, and conflicts with Mexico and Native American nations in the U.S. Southwest.