Walter Joseph Meserve

Walter Joseph Meserve (born March 10, 1923) is an American professor emeritus, playwright, critic, and author of books on theater. He is a Fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Meserve's An Outline History of American Drama has been called "a highly valuable "vest pocket" history of the American drama which should be on the shelf of every teacher of contemporary theater, every critic, and every student with an interest in modern drama". The American Historical Review said his book about American drama during the Andrew Jackson era "brings much of Quinn's carefulness and Odell's enthusiasm to embroidering their work", but added that "Meserve's gestures to the new are disappointingly fainthearted".