In her award-winning collection, Elizabeth Oness travels a vast emotional terrain, from the loss of innocence to sexual betrayal to the helplessness of parents before their children. In “Momentum, ” a woman carries the burden of a dead friend's secret for years until she finally decides to reveal it, only to discover that other, darker secrets still lie in wait. “Rufus” follows the quandary of a young man who is forced to choose between the affection of his girlfriend and his compassion for a homeless man who has taken up residence in his car.

Articles of Faith is a collection of stories about silence and the complications that arise when a silence is kept too long or suddenly broken. As one narrator relates, “I knew that life was full of these things which matter so enormously and make us what we are—but remain unsaid because to voice them does not make them go away, and instead shakes everything around us apart. ”

For the scholar, teacher, and librarian who consulted with pleasure and profit Articles on American Literature 1900-1950, the newest volume of this compilation is a welcome event. Encompassing another two decades of literary scholarship, the book provides an impressing listing of periodical contributions to the study of American literature. The purpose of this collection has been as useful as possible. With the present work this goal is still the guideline for a masterful bibliography, and the volume takes its place as an indispensable tool of reference for both the student and teacher of American literature.

This compilation is collaborative; its core is a conflation of items based on the quarterly checklists of "Articles on American Literature Appearing in Current Periodicals" in American Literature from January 1951 through January 1958. Other items have been added frot the annual bibliographies in the Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, the American Quarterly, and the New England Quarterly. And finally, there have been added listings from other more specialized bibliographies on genres or authors.

The accumulated listings are arranged in a single author alphabet, with miscellaneous articles divided into convenient categories. That this volume is nearly twice the length of its predecessor is an indication of the burgeoning scholarship devoted to American literature in the last twenty years. It is of the greatest importance then that the scholar have the kind of comprehensive guide which will free him from the time -consuming task of searching out materials. Lewis Leary's book provides just such a guide.

Appearing concurrently with this volume is a reprinting of the popular Articles on American Literature 1900-1950, originally published in 1954. This compilation (itself a revision and extension of the 1947 Articles on American Literature Appearing in Current Periodicals, 1920-1945) is an alphabetical listing of articles on American literature, primarily in English, appearing in periodicals from 1900 through 1950.

In 1783, as the Revolutionary War came to a close, Alexander Hamilton resigned in disgust from the Continental Congress after it refused to consider a fundamental reform of the Articles of Confederation. Just four years later, that same government collapsed, and Congress grudgingly agreed to support the 1787 Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, which altered the Articles beyond recognition. What occurred during this remarkably brief interval to cause the Confederation to lose public confidence and inspire Americans to replace it with a dramatically more flexible and powerful government? We Have Not a Government is the story of this contentious moment in American history.

In George William Van Cleve’s book, we encounter a sharply divided America. The Confederation faced massive war debts with virtually no authority to compel its members to pay them. It experienced punishing trade restrictions and strong resistance to American territorial expansion from powerful European governments. Bitter sectional divisions that deadlocked the Continental Congress arose from exploding western settlement. And a deep, long-lasting recession led to sharp controversies and social unrest across the country amid roiling debates over greatly increased taxes, debt relief, and paper money. Van Cleve shows how these remarkable stresses transformed the Confederation into a stalemate government and eventually led previously conflicting states, sections, and interest groups to advocate for a union powerful enough to govern a continental empire.

Touching on the stories of a wide-ranging cast of characters—including John Adams, Patrick Henry, Daniel Shays, George Washington, and Thayendanegea—Van Cleve makes clear that it was the Confederation’s failures that created a political crisis and led to the 1787 Constitution. Clearly argued and superbly written, We Have Not a Government is a must-read history of this crucial period in our nation’s early life.