Nation & Nationalism

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Written by American author Stephen Vincent Benét, “The Devil and Daniel Webster” is a variation on the Faust myth. Benét’s story tackles themes such as The Devil in America, Patriotism and the Limits of Loyalty, and The Nature of Justice. The story first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in 1936, though it was later republished in Benét’s collection of stories titled Thirteen O’Clock in 1937. The story subsequently received the O. Henry Award, earning... Read The Devil and Daniel Webster Summary

The Dispossessed tells the story of its protagonist Shevek’s journey from his home on a desolate, isolated moon to the abundant planet around which his society revolves. Shevek is an Odinian physicist from the planet of Urras, a socialist planet without a central government that follows the teachings of the revolutionary Odo. Upon settling Urras, Odinians refused contact with their former home, the planet Anarres: the only exchange between the planets occurs as mined goods... Read The Dispossessed Summary

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First published in 1954, The Eagle of the Ninth is the first of three novels constituting English author Rosemary Sutcliff’s Roman Britain trilogy, all of which are connected through the emerald ring belonging to the family of Marcus Flavius Aquila. A work of historical fiction, The Eagle of the Ninth draws upon two historical events. One is the disappearance of the Ninth Legion of the Roman Army around the year AD 117 after they departed... Read The Eagle of the Ninth Summary

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The Farming of Bones, by Edwidge Danticat, was originally published in 1998. The novel’s setting is the Dominican Republic and the surplus of the book takes place in the late 1930s. Amabelle Désir, orphan and servant to Señora Valencia and her father, Papi, finds herself going above and beyond the call of duty as she delivers Señora Valencia’s twin babies. When the doctor arrives, he comments on Amabelle’s stellar abilities as a midwife, and suggests... Read The Farming Of Bones Summary

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The Great Train Robbery (1975) by Michael Crichton is a fictionalized account of the Great Gold Robbery of 1855. It details the actions of criminal mastermind Edward Pierce and his co-conspirators as they plan and execute the heist of £12,000 of gold from a train in London. This historical thriller analyzes Victorian beliefs about crime in the context of a rapidly changing society overwhelmed by industrialization. Historically, Pierce’s successful heist shocked a nation that believed... Read The Great Train Robbery Summary

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Anthropologist David Treuer’s The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present (2019) revives Indigenous history and centers Indigenous people as subjects, not as mere victims of American avarice. It was a finalist for the National Book Award in Nonfiction. Treuer is a member of the Ojibwe tribe from the Leech Lake Reservation in north-central Minnesota. He has a doctorate in anthropology, teaches at the University of Southern California, and is the... Read The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee Summary

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The Home and the World is a novel by Rabindranath Tagore, set against the political and logistical nightmares of India’s 20th century caste system. Although the story focuses on the dynamic of a marriage—which shifts when a shadowy outsider enters the lives of the couple—much of the novel reads like a philosophical treatise. There are shifting viewpoints between the characters Bimala, Nikhil, and Sandip, and much of the book comprises their internal and external dialogues... Read The Home and the World Summary

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The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is an 1831 gothic novel by French author Victor Hugo, originally published under the title Notre-Dame de Paris. Set in 15th-century France, the novel concerns the intertwined stories of Quasimodo, Esmeralda, and Archdeacon Claude Frollo. The story has been adapted many times for theater, television, and film, including an animated film by Disney released in 1996.This guide refers to the 2009 Oxford Classics edition of the novel, translated from French to... Read The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Summary