Henry James began writing professionally after the publication of his first short story in 1865. A back injury incurred while fighting a stable fire had kept James out of the American Civil War, but he was acutely aware of the war's significance and throughout his career used his writing to help the United States arrive at a new sense of self. He did this by reassessing his countrys relationship with its origins in Europe. James utilized the increasingly efficient transatlantic transportation to capture the true spirit of contemporary Americans in contact with their European peers. In doing so, he showed how the two sides actively engaged each other in an Atlantic community. The best novel of his last period, The Ambassadors, neatly resolves this discussion. In this work, Americans enjoy Paris but then return to America where the grit of life is being manufactured. ...