James loved reading and could read fluently in French， Italian and German as well as his native English.ln 1864， he anonymously published his first short story，A Tragedy of Error， and from then on devoted himself completely to literature.Throughout his career， he wrote extensively，publishing books and articles in a variety of genres： novels， short story collections， literary criticism， travel writing， biography and autobiography.In all， he wrote 22 novels，including two left unfinished at his death， and 112 stories， along with many plays and essays. James moved to Europe， settling permanently in England in 1876.He lived there， first in London then in Rye， in Sussex.The outbreak of World War I was a profound shock for James， and in 1915， he became a British citizen to declare his loyalty to his adopted country as well as to protest against America's refusal to enter the war on behalf of Britain. James died in London in 1916.He is considered by many writers and critics to be one of the greatest American authors and a number of his works have been made into successful films.
