Thomas Ruys Smith is an award-winning academic and writer. He is Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. A world-leading expert in the life and work of Mark Twain, the cultural and social history of Christmas, and the history of children's literature, his expertise has been sought out by a wide variety of international publications, from Time, The Economist and USA Today to The Guardian and The Financial Times. He welcomes any media enquiries. Much of his research has focussed around the social and cultural history of the Mississippi River. His first book, River of Dreams: Imagining the Mississippi Before Mark Twain (Louisiana State University Press, 2007) was an interdisciplinary examination of the different roles played by the Mississippi in antebellum American culture. His second book, Southern Queen: New Orleans in the Nineteenth Century (Continuum, 2011), was an exploration of the life and culture of one of America's most fascinating cities during a crucible period in its history. His latest book, Deep Water: The Mississippi River in the Age of Mark Twain (Louisiana State University Press, 2019), is a pioneering account of Twain's intimate and long-lasting creative engagement with the Mississippi which also details the thriving cultural life of the Mississippi in this period and highlights a diverse collection of voices each telling their own story of the river.
His ground-breaking work on the literary history of Christmas can be found in Christmas Past: An Anthology of Seasonal Stories from Nineteenth-Century America (Louisiana State University Press, 2021) and The Last Gift: The Christmas Stories of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (Louisiana State University Press, 2023). Currently in the works are a collection of Santa Claus stories and an edited collection about the Trasnatlantic literary history of Christmas.
Recently, he has become involved in an ongoing project with Redwings Horse Sanctuary about the lives and legacies of Anna Sewell, Mary Sewell, and Black Beauty. He has published new editions of both Black Beauty and Mary Sewell's poetry.
With his colleague Hilary Emmett, he also edits the Children's Corner Critical Editions series for the UEA Publishing Project, which publishes books produced in collaboration with UEA students. So far, they have published new editions of What Katy Did, Five Little Peppers, The Bee-Man of Orn, and an anthology of Lydia Maria Child's writing for children.
He is also the editor of a variety of other collections: Blacklegs, Card Sharps and Confidence Men: Nineteenth-Century Mississippi River Gambling Stories (Louisiana State University Press, 2010); with Prof. Sarah Churchwell, Must Read: Rediscovering American Bestsellers, from Charlotte Temple to The Kite Runner (Continuum, 2012); with Dr Ross Hair, Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music: America Changed Through Music (Routledge, 2016).
Alongside those books, he has written numerous articles on a wide variety of topics - outlaws and highwaymen, country music, antebellum religious movements - for various journals and collections. He has also written for a number of magazines, including New Statesman, BBC History Magazine, and History Today, and appeared on radio (BBC Book Café, BBC 6Music, BBC World Service, BBC Radio Norfolk) and television (Heir Hunters, Myth Hunters).
He is co-editor of the journals Comparative American Studies and New Area Studies.
He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
This website is a record of his publications and associated research activities. You can learn more about his books here, and his articles here. Follow him on bluesky, and please feel free to contact him about any aspect of his work.
