"Backgrounds" supplies an abundance of documents that shed light onAusten's life and reveal some of her private attitudes toward herwriting.

"Reviews and Criticism" presents a wide variety of perspectives, bothcontemporary and recent, including essays by Sir Walter Scott, HenryJames, A. C. Bradley, E. M. Forster, Robert Alan Donovan, MarilynButler, Mary Poovey, Claudia Johnson, Juliet McMaster, Ian Watt, andSuzanne Juhasz.  New to this edition are essays by Maggie Lane, EdwardCopeland, and Linda Troost and Sayre Greenfield, the last of whichdiscusses film adaptations of Emma.

A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are included.