Ezra Pound and Hilda Doolittle are among the most important American modernist poets. In this comparative study, Jacob Korg examines their intertwined lives, from an early romantic relationship when both writers were in their early twenties, through the ongoing friendship, rivalry and artistic dialogue that helped shape their work. Drawing on unpublished letters and manuscripts as well as published works, Korg offers a fresh view of two American artists and a wholly unexpected portrait of Pound - examined here through the context of a female modernist.

Korg's study illuminates the manner in which the major poets of the early twentieth century attempted to overcome the division between the cultures of religion and science.