The Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia
by Gregory Eiselein, Anne K. Phillips
Category: Literary Criticism

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) is arguably the most widely read 19th-century American author. She has long been a staple of children's literature courses, and her works now also receive significant attention in American studies and women's studies classes. This reference collects in a comprehensive and reliable single volume the most important facts about Alcott's life and works. It surveys the basic biographical details of her family and personal life; it supplies essential information on her historical and cultural contexts, including her place in the 19th-century publishing milieu, various reform movements, and major historical events, such as the Civil War; and it treats her writings, both the adult and children's works, in an accurate, informative, and accessible manner.