Is Literary History Possible?

"Profoundly searching, yet written with grace and lucidity. A distinguished historian and critic illuminates and answers one of the major problems of literary study in a work that will become and remain a classic." -- W. Jackson Bate.

"Perkins writes clearly and concisely. Like René Wellek and M. H. Abrams, he has an admirable gift for making clear the underlying assumptions of many different writers." -- Comparative Literature.