Review 19 Search Page

Fourteen years ago, with the generous sponsorship of Dartmouth College, I launched Review 19. Since that time, thanks to the good counsel of our advisors and editors and the indispensable work of hundreds of reviewers, we have assessed nearly 700 books on British and American literature of the nineteenth century.

Given my age (84) and declining health, I have decided to step down from the editorship by the end of this calendar year. Fortunately, the Provost’s Office of Dartmouth will fund the review for at least three more years, and I have also found a new editor.

He is Andrew Foust, who has been technically managing the website for many years. Since he combines digital wizardry with academic achievement (he holds a PhD in English from the University of California at Irvine), he will bring fresh energy to the editing of this review. The only change we’ll make—with regret—is to discontinue reviewing studies of American literature. This will allow us to sharpen our focus on the study of British literature.

To help Andy, two new Associate Editors will replace Lila Harper and Lisa Ann Robertson, who have been serving us so well for the past few years. James McKusick, probably best known for his Geen Writing: Romanticism and Ecology (Palagrave 2000), will edit reviews of books on Romantic era literature. Mary L. Mullen, author of the prize-winning Novel Institutions: Anachronism, Irish Novels and Nineteenth-Century Realism (Edinburgh, 2019), will oversee reviews of Victorian studies.

Finally, a personal note. Earlier this year, Bloomsbury Academic published my latest book, Politics and Literature at the Dawn of World War II. Since this book has almost nothing to do with the nineteenth century, it cannot be reviewed here, but for a brief description and some very generous blurbs, see https://www.jamesheff.com.

My thanks, yet again, to all who have contributed so much to this review and to all--especially Andy Foust--who will carry its torch into the future.

Jonathan Bate BRIGHT STAR, GREEN LIGHT: THE BEAUTIFUL WORKS AND DAMNED LIVES OF JOHN KEATS AND F. SCOTT FITZGERALD (Yale, 2021) xiv + 415 pp. Reviewed by Michael Theune on 2023-08-04 Romantic Poetry
This is a deeply strange book. Click here to read the full review.

Cian Duffy BRITISH ROMANTICISM AND DENMARK (Edinburgh, 2022) 246 pp. Reviewed by Marie-Louise Svane on 2023-05-22 International Romanticism
In recent academic publications on European cultural history, questions about nation building, nationalism, and national identity have played a prominent part. Click here to read the full review.

Maureen McCue and Sophie Thomas, eds. THE EDINBURGH COMPANION TO ROMANTICISM AND THE ARTS (Edinburgh, 2023) xx + 548 pp. Reviewed by William Galperin on 2023-05-19 Romantic Art
A key question posed by this collection springs from its title. Click here to read the full review.

Susan J. Wolfson A GREETING OF THE SPIRIT: SELECTED POETRY OF JOHN KEATS WITH COMMENTARIES (Belknap / Harvard, 2022) xv + 457 pp. Reviewed by Robert S. White on 2023-04-22 Romantic Poetry
This handsomely produced and very hefty volume is destined to become required reading for all Keats lovers, students, and scholars. Click here to read the full review.

Kerri Andrews and Sue Edney, eds. HANNAH MORE IN CONTEXT (Routledge, 2022) 242 pp. Reviewed by Natasha Duquette on 2023-04-15 Romantic Literature
Hannah More's historical contributions to anti-slavery activism have brought her further into the twenty-first-century public eye, which has in turn generated more nuanced scholarly approaches to her writing. Click here to read the full review.

Richard C. Sha IMAGINATION AND SCIENCE IN ROMANTICISM (Johns Hopkins, 2018) xi + 327 pp. Reviewed by James Robert Allard on 2023-03-31 Romantic Literature
We have long understood that certain key terms like "nature" and "revolution," to cite only two examples, are at home in a variety of seemingly disparate texts and contexts in the Romantic Century, even as they often prove frustratingly difficult to define or circumscribe in any meaningful way. Click here to read the full review.

PASSING THE TORCH