Gr. 9-12. One of 5 volumes in the Backgrounds to American Literature series, this book focuses on American Romantic literature and transcendentalism. In addition to discussions of those two movements, the book also addresses the historical and philosophical foundations of Romantic thought; the impact of social reform movements, such as the abolitionists, on literature; and the emergence of uniquely American poets, specifically Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. The brief chapter on transcendentalism offers no more information than what one would find in a standard American literature textbook, and the book also glosses over a discussion comparing the American and English Romantic movements.