Understanding Robert Penn Warren offers a comprehensive introduction to and commentary on the fiction, poetry and drama of one of the 20th century's most versatile writers and the first author to be honoured as US poet laureate. Grimshaw examines the writer's views about the primacy of self-knowledge and explores not only the painful and arduous path his protagonists must follow to gain such knowledge but also the inter-relationship of his artistic endeavours, which were woven together by common thematic concerns - history, time, truth, responsibility, love, hope and endurance. Underscoring the poet laureate's extensive achievements in the realm of letters, Grimshaw discusses Warren's focus on the universal concerns of society. While proposing that Warren comes as close as any writer of his generation to presenting a synoptic view of the human condition, Grimshaw draws primary attention to Warren's storytelling ability - a talent he rates as Warren's greatest legacy.