"Donald Davidson (1893-1968) may well be the most unjustifiably neglected figure in twentieth-century southern literature. One of the most important poets of the Fugitive movement, he also produced a substantial body of literary criticism, the libretto for an American folk opera, a widely used composition textbook, and the recently discovered novel The Big Ballad Jamboree.

As a social and political activist, Davidson had significant impact on conservative thought in this century, influencing important scholars from Cleanth Brooks to M. E. Bradford. This work offers a complete narrative of Davidson's life with all of its triumphs and losses, frustrations and fulfillments."--BOOK JACKET.