Louisa May Alcott's hope that Little Woman would become "the most tattered, dog-eared, best-loved book in the library" has been more than fulfilled through the decades following its publication in 1868.  Generation after generation, young people and their elders have read and re-read the adventures of the March family, admired Jo's daring, wept when Beth died and sighed sympathetically over Meg's and Amy's romantic adventures. Those who remember their youth and want to renew it keep a special place in their hearts for this nostalgic tale of a vanished time and spirit in American life.