Drawing on old maps, contemporary drawings and paintings, portraits and other archive material, the excellent Famous Authors series not only presents a factual outline of the writers lives, but also conveys a clear visual picture of the social and historical background to their writing. Recommended for all ages. THE GOOD BOOK GUIDEA major figure in the history of literature, Henry James was a novelist, short story writer, and critic. He explored several themes extensively. The relationship between innocence and experience (especially as exemplified by the differences between the exuberant but uncultured Americans and the highly cultivated Europeans) is evident in The American and The Passionate Pilgrim. He also wrote about the dilemma of the artist in an alien society and the achievement of self-knowledge.James was an extraordinarily prolific writer until his death, at which time he left two novels incomplete. The Portrait of a Lady is one of his most revered works. In 1904 James visited the U.S. and published a travel book on his return called The American Scene.Major Works: Roderick Hudson (1875), The American (1877), Daisy Miller (1878), The Europeans (1878), Washington Square (1880), The Portrait of a Lady (1881), The Bostonians (1886), The Princess Casamassima (1886), The Reverberator (1888), The Spoils of Poynton (1897), What Maisie Knew (1897), The Awkward Age (1899), The Sacred Fount (1901), The Wings of a Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903), The Golden Bowl (1904)