The Ambassadors is one of Henry James's last fully completed novels, written in 1903 in a burst of creativity that most critics have come to term his "late period." This period saw James writing at the height of his powers and exploring new styles of narrative. During this period, James also wrote such works as The Wings of the Dove (1901) and The Golden Bowl (1904).
However, despite its undeniable membership among James's later works—all of which helped usher in a vibrant period of literary modernism—The Ambassadors marks in some respects a return to form. Its subject matter hearkens back to earlier works like The Europeans (1878), which contrast the lives of European sophisticates...
