An account of the writing life of Henry James which aims to provide a critical overview of all his important writings, set in two contexts: that of James' practical career as a novelist in America, England and Europe; and that of the literary and intellectual climate of his time. By tracing the complex development of his career under such headings as "American and Romantic", "Victorian and Realist", "Crisis and Experiment" and "Master and Modernist", it provides both a factual and interpretative portrait of this novelist whose career began in the time of Thackeray and Dickens, and ended by ushering in the writings of Joyce and Woolf.