Written by a leading authority on William Carlos Williams, this book provides a wide-ranging and stimulating guide to twentieth-century American poetry. * A wide-ranging and stimulating critical guide to twentieth-century American poetry. * Written by a leading authority on the innovative modernist poet, William Carlos Williams. * 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. * 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.