Used as a reference in the Read with the Best program, this book begins with some Native American stories and accounts of first meetings with Europeans and ends with works of American authors in the 1960s. For being a shorter, edited version of Norton's Anthology, this book still contains a whopping 2992 pages! Then there are selected bibliographies, history and criticisms in the back, plus an index. Some of the authors included are: Benjamin Franklin, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Jack London, T.S. Eliot, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Alice Walker, and Louise Erdrich (to name just a few). There are a few black-and-white illustrations and some color plates as well. The paper is quite thin but of good quality. Book measures 6" x 9" and is about 2.5" thick. A great resource for many language arts programs. pb. ~ Sara