Pound: Thoughts and Perspectives, Volume Six

Ezra Pound (1885-1972) remains one of the most vilified cultural figures of the twentieth century, but few people can deny that he was also one of the foremost poets and critics of his generation. In addition, of course, Pound was an extremely passionate and outspoken individual with a keen interest in politics and economics and made no attempt to hide his justifiable loathing of the usurious banking system which, even now, continues to hold the world to ransom. But despite the American's well-known support for Italian Fascism and especially its chief spokesman, Benito Mussolini, Pound was also influenced by the anarcho-individualist beliefs of the French sculptor, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. Although Pound was not an artist himself, together with Lewis and other members of the English avant-garde he had been influenced to some extent by the efforts of the Cubists and Futurists and therefore went on to help establish the remarkable pre-war phenomenon that became the Vorticist movement. During the course of this book you will find Pound discussed in all manner of political, economic, linguistic, poetic, cultural and artistic frameworks, with our team of writers approaching his life and work from a number of fascinating and revealing angles. Together they present Ezra Pound's breath-taking achievements in a comparatively more respectful and far less defamatory context than those which are offered by his liberal detractors. Contributors include Troy Southgate, Mariella Shearer, K.R. Bolton, Michael Collins Piper and Dimitris Michalopoulos.