A stimulating overview of American journeys from the eighteenth century to the present.

Chronology; Introduction: new worlds and old lands: the travel book and the construction of American identity Judith Hamera and Alfred Bendixen; Part I. Confronting the American Landscape: 1. Beginnings: the origins of American travel writing in the Pre-Revolutionary period Philip Gould; 2. Landscape and American travel writing William W. Stowe; 3. New York to Niagara by way of the Hudson and the Erie Christopher Mulvey; 4. The Mississippi river as site and symbol Thomas Ruys Smith; 5. The Southwest and travel writing Martin Padget; Part II. Americans Abroad: 6. American travel books about Europe before the Civil War Alfred Bendixen; 7. Americans in Europe: Henry James to the present William Merrill Decker; 8. Americans in the Holy Land, Israel and Palestine Hilton Obenzinger; 9. Americans in the larger world: beyond the Pacific coast Christopher McBride; 10. South of the border: American travel writing in Latin America Terry Caesar; Part III. Social Scenes and American Sites: 11. African American travel literature Virginia Whatley Smith; 12. American women and travel writing Susan L. Roberson; 13. Driving that highway to consciousness: late twentieth-century American travel literature Deborah Paes de Barros; Guide to further reading; Index.