The action-adventure heroine : rediscovering an American literary character, 1697-1895 / Sandra Wilson Smith.

"His book probes the action-adventure heroine character in eighteenth and nineteenth-century American literature. Smith analyzes captivity narratives, war narratives, stories of manifest destiny, dime novels, and tales of seduction to reveal a long literary history of female heroes who step into more male-associated roles to win the day. Along the way, Smith examines such authors as Herman Mann, Emerson Bennett, Catherine Maria Sedgewick, Mercy Otis Warren, and Eden Southworth, among others"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Protecting Her Own: The Action-Adventure Heroine in Captivity Narratives -- Fighting for Her Country: Female Soldiers and Sailors -- The Female Wanderer: Not a Tale of Seduction -- Saving Damsels -- and Gentlemen -- in Distress: The Female Hero in Catharine Maria Sedgwick's Fiction -- (Wo)manifest Destiny: Cross-dressed Female Warriors and Western, Expansion -- Not a True Woman but a Bold One: The Story-Paper Female Heroes of E.D.E.N. Southworth -- Fearless, Independent, and Packing a Gun: The Dime-Novel Female Heroes of Edward L. Wheeler -- The Dime-Novel Female Hero, Queered: Albert W. Aiken's Female Detectives.