Aristotle's Poetics offers a descriptive definition of ancient Greek tragedy. For some theorists, it is the ultimate critical authority on the nature of tragedy.

Eugene O'Neill, in Long Day's Journey into Night (1956), comes as close as Miller does to writing a modern, family tragedy.

An important sociological study, The Lonely Crowd (1969), by David Reisman, suggests that modern America has lost the capacity for guilt (necessary to tragedy).

Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations (1991, revised edition), by Christopher Lasch, a more recent look at American culture, examines the changing cultural landscape.

Stuart D. Brandes's study, Warhogs: A History of War Profits in America (1997), is a thorough history of wartime profiteering in the United States, both before and since World War II.