Ranging across English, Irish, and American writing, Ethnicity and Cultural Authority is not only a deft analysis of his chosen authors, but also an admirably independent-minded charting of some of the tensions between culture as the sphere in which univeral human values are expressed, and culture as the vehicle for the expression and development of particular ethnic identities. In this imaginatively conceived book, Daniel Williams manages to address several of the most central and most contentious areas of contemporary literary and cultural study. -- Professor Stefan Collini, Cambridge The possibilities of extension offered by this vital book are a key indication of its importance. -- Neil evans Translation and Literature Williams has produced a well-written and useful book that brings the analysis of Victorian culture into productive dialog with Irish and American studies. Victorian Studies Ranging across English, Irish, and American writing, Ethnicity and Cultural Authority is not only a deft analysis of his chosen authors, but also an admirably independent-minded charting of some of the tensions between culture as the sphere in which univeral human values are expressed, and culture as the vehicle for the expression and development of particular ethnic identities. In this imaginatively conceived book, Daniel Williams manages to address several of the most central and most contentious areas of contemporary literary and cultural study. The possibilities of extension offered by this vital book are a key indication of its importance. Williams has produced a well-written and useful book that brings the analysis of Victorian culture into productive dialog with Irish and American studies