"A tour de force that reconceptualizes literary history and repositions British literature to claim the imperial and trans-Atlantic origins of the British novel. "--Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, author of Disorderly Conduct "A very exciting piece of work, with important implications for how we conceive projects in literary, intellectual, and cultural history. . . . It is sure to be a controversial study, but it will get serious attention, not just as a study of 'novels' and texts but as a provocative account of English history and of models for studying history."--J. Paul Hunter, author of Before Novels