This book provides a wide-ranging and stimulating guide to twentieth-century American poetry. It is written by a leading authority on the innovative modernist poet, William Carlos Williams. The book explores the material, historical and social contexts in which twentieth-century American poetry was produced; includes a biographical dictionary of major writers with extended entries on poets ranging from Robert Frost to Adrienne Rich; and, contains a section on key texts considering major works, such as "The Waste Land", "North & South", "Howl" and "Ariel". The final section draws out key themes, such as American poetry, politics and war, and the process of anthologizing at the end of the century.