Mathews compares and contrasts the eight existing versions of Frederick Philip Grove's The Master of the Mill, examining the author's shifted intention and emphasis. The novel's structure is altered significantly. Characters develop different relationships with one another. Nietzsche's "will in history" is manifested in various ways, and is less or more apparent in different versions of the novel. The history of these versions, spanning at least the years 1930-44, shows not only the aesthetic development of a novel, but also Grove's own shifting philosophical preoccupations.
