With a new Introduction by the Author

The novel by which Robert Penn Warren compelled immediate national attention and for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1947 has already established itself as one of the notable books in all American fiction. His story of Willie Stark, the power-impelled, back-country demagogue, driven and corrupted by success, is a drama of many strands. Interwoven among them all is the central figure of a rogue strong and charming and ruthless enough to seduce either a close friend or an unruly mob. For intensity of action, for an unfailing ear for native colloquialism and for insight into the character and motivations of a man drunk with the compulsion to power, there is no comparable American novel.