Considered one of the greatest American authors, Nathaniel Hawthorne created a memorable body of literature. In Adapting Nathaniel Hawthorne to the Screen: Forging New Worlds, Laurence Raw demonstrates how filmmakers have turned to Hawthorne to comment on the nation's past, present, and future. From filmmakers who use Hawthorne's material to depict American life of the mid-19th century to those commenting on various aspects of 20th century American life such as the "Red Scare," Raw surveys the canon of adaptations produced over the last eight decades. Raw discusses adaptations of the short stories "Feathertop," "The Snow Image," "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," and "Rappacinni's Daughter," as well as the novels The House of Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter, providing unique insight into American history from a variety of perspectives.