Previously, the proteges of John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, Donald Davidson, and Robert Penn Warren have received considerable scholarly attention only as individuals or in relation to small groups of close-knit writers within single literary genres. Now, for the first time, this far-ranging group of accomplished writers is united as part of a larger phenomenon, the Fugitive legacy, which has extended its influence far beyond the parameters of southern literature.

In The Fugitive Legacy, Charlotte H. Beck demonstrates the strong influence of the Nashville Fugitives as teachers, editors,...