Nationalism and Desire in Early Historical Fiction analyses a sequence of early-nineteenth-century British and American texts from a perspective informed by Rene Girard's theory of triangular of 'mimetic' desire. Jane Porter's The Scottish Chiefs , Sydney Owenson's The Wild Irish Girl , Sir Walter Scott's Waverley , Old Mortality , Rob Roy , The Pirate and Redgauntlet , and Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans and Lionel Lincoln are given detailed new readings. General conclusions about the relationship of desire and nationalism in historical fiction are proposed.

Acknowledgements - Introduction - PART 1: 'WHAT A LAND IS THIS!': THE PRE-OEDIPAL NATION - PART 2: ENGLISH BOYS AND COLONIAL GIRLS - PART 3: THE WAVERLEY SOLUTION - PART 4: RADICAL FATHERS AND MODERATE SONS - Conclusion - Notes - Index