Nellie Bly was one of the most famous journalists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Despite her accomplishments and fascinating life, her work has been largely ignored. With the exception of a few references in early books on women in the press and surges in juvenile biographies in the 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s, little has been published on Bly. Her books are out of print, and no scholarly work was available on her until Brooke Kroeger wrote the first documented biography of Bly aimed at adult readers, Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist (1994). Authoritatively establishing Bly's important role in American journalism, Kroeger argues that Bly pioneered the development of detective or stunt journalism, the acknowledged forerunner of full-scale investigative reporting and helped open the field of journalism to other women. Yet Bly's role in American history and literary studies, especially as it is revealed through her reporting...