Dante: The Essential Commedia

Prue Shaw’s absorbing, highly accessible introduction to the Commedia promises to be the essential edition for years to come.

The Commedia, Dante’s epic story of one man’s journey from the darkness and terror of hell to the revelation of divine light in heaven, is one of the greatest works of Western literature, but it can seem daunting to the English-speaking reader. College courses often cherry-pick the most arresting passages from Inferno and barely glance at the equally compelling Purgat...