Dante: Inferno

The Divine Comedy is perhaps one of the greatest Christian classics ever written, and probably the greatest adventure story ever told. Dante wrote not just for the intellectual elite, but to entertain, guide, and enrich ordinary readers. This clear new version with unique aids makes the fascinating story accessible to such readers today.

Although most Americans may have heard of Dante's Divine Comedy, relatively few have even a nodding acquaintance with the story and fewer yet understand what it means. None of the English translations available in the 1990s were in felicitous contemporary prose, and it is now time for a new prose edition.

Because the deep-felt needs Dante addressed are universal and powerfully personal, Dante speaks to major concerns in contemporary American culture. But most of today's Dante commentators focus on his literary brilliance and subtlety rather than the brilliance and sublety of his perception of the human condition. Thus readers need a new prose version of The Divine Comedy with accompanying notes that emphasize the sly wit and startling moral, psychological, and spiritual wisdom at its heart.

This highly readable edition fills that need, emphasizing Dante's profound insights into human life and character. It includes traditional aids to understanding Dante and adds a variety of new material, supplemented by references to Dorothy Sayers, C.S. Lewis, and many other Dante commentators.