Barbara Reynolds is one of the world's best known Dante scholars. She completed the Penguin translation of Paradiso after the death of Dorothy L Sayers. She also translated Dante's early work 'La Vita Nuova' and Ariosto's 'Orlando Furioso'. In addition, she has written a biography of Dorothy L Sayers and edited 'The Cambridge Italian Dictionary'.

A lavish vita, it is also an extraordinarily vivid and incisive chronicle of the dynamics and titanic clashes in Italian and European political life at the time … It is a detailed cultural and intellectual map of the times, and a gripping intertextual reading of Dante's works, interlacing fine scholarly detail with the universal themes and emotions that have made Dante's words almost archetypal for Western consciousness ... Never dryly archaeological, invariably intelligent, this is a riveting account of Dante the man in all his manifestations.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsIntroduction1. The Early Years2. Dante and Guido Cavalcanti3. Disaster4. The First Years of Exile5. Language and Poetry6. Invitation to a Banquet7. Main Dishes and Trenchers8. The True Definition of Nobility9. Injustice and Avarice10. Dante the Showman11. The Return of Beatrice12. The Story Begins13. Limbo14. Francesca da Rimini15. Dante in Danger16. Dante the Taxonomist17. Creation of Character.18. Down into the Depths19. 'Him of Alagna'20. Virgil and Sorcery21. Devil-Play22. A Den of Thieves23. Tongues of Fire24. The Severed Head25. The Valley of Disease26. Towering Giants27. The Frozen Lake28. Lucifer29. The Tragedy of Henry VII30. Better Waters31. The Morning Sun32. From Humour to Invective33. Close of Day and a New Dawn34. Pride and Humility35. Evil and the Freedom of the Will36. Love, Natural and Rational37. The Mountain Trembles38. Dante and Forese Donati39. Body and Soul40. The Christian Sibyl41. Who is Matilda?42. Dante and hisPatrons43. Prelude to Paradiso44. Beatrice in Heaven45. Propaganda in Paradiso46. The City Walls47. Justice Unfathomed48. Dante and Monasticism49. The Theme's Great Weight50. Faith, Hope and Love51. Hatred in Heaven52. The Creation53. The Departure of Beatrice54. Approach to the Final Vision55. The Vision of the TrinityEpilogueAppendicesChronology of Dante's Life and WorksGuelfs and GhibellinesList of Popes in Dante's LifetimeHoly Roman Emperors Referred to by DanteThe CanzoneNotesSelect Index

Barbara Reynolds is one of the world's best known Dante scholars. She completed the Penguin translation of Paradiso after the death of Dorothy L Sayers. She also translated Dante's early work 'La Vita Nuova' and Ariosto's 'Orlando Furioso'. In addition, she has written a biography of Dorothy L Sayers and edited 'The Cambridge Italian Dictionary'.

A lavish vita, it is also an extraordinarily vivid and incisive chronicle of the dynamics and titanic clashes in Italian and European political life at the time … It is a detailed cultural and intellectual map of the times, and a gripping intertextual reading of Dante's works, interlacing fine scholarly detail with the universal themes and emotions that have made Dante's words almost archetypal for Western consciousness ... Never dryly archaeological, invariably intelligent, this is a riveting account of Dante the man in all his manifestations.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsIntroduction1. The Early Years2. Dante and Guido Cavalcanti3. Disaster4. The First Years of Exile5. Language and Poetry6. Invitation to a Banquet7. Main Dishes and Trenchers8. The True Definition of Nobility9. Injustice and Avarice10. Dante the Showman11. The Return of Beatrice12. The Story Begins13. Limbo14. Francesca da Rimini15. Dante in Danger16. Dante the Taxonomist17. Creation of Character.18. Down into the Depths19. 'Him of Alagna'20. Virgil and Sorcery21. Devil-Play22. A Den of Thieves23. Tongues of Fire24. The Severed Head25. The Valley of Disease26. Towering Giants27. The Frozen Lake28. Lucifer29. The Tragedy of Henry VII30. Better Waters31. The Morning Sun32. From Humour to Invective33. Close of Day and a New Dawn34. Pride and Humility35. Evil and the Freedom of the Will36. Love, Natural and Rational37. The Mountain Trembles38. Dante and Forese Donati39. Body and Soul40. The Christian Sibyl41. Who is Matilda?42. Dante and hisPatrons43. Prelude to Paradiso44. Beatrice in Heaven45. Propaganda in Paradiso46. The City Walls47. Justice Unfathomed48. Dante and Monasticism49. The Theme's Great Weight50. Faith, Hope and Love51. Hatred in Heaven52. The Creation53. The Departure of Beatrice54. Approach to the Final Vision55. The Vision of the TrinityEpilogueAppendicesChronology of Dante's Life and WorksGuelfs and GhibellinesList of Popes in Dante's LifetimeHoly Roman Emperors Referred to by DanteThe CanzoneNotesSelect Index

Barbara Reynolds is one of the world's best known Dante scholars. She completed the Penguin translation of Paradiso after the death of Dorothy L Sayers. She also translated Dante's early work 'La Vita Nuova' and Ariosto's 'Orlando Furioso'. In addition, she has written a biography of Dorothy L Sayers and edited 'The Cambridge Italian Dictionary'.

A lavish vita, it is also an extraordinarily vivid and incisive chronicle of the dynamics and titanic clashes in Italian and European political life at the time … It is a detailed cultural and intellectual map of the times, and a gripping intertextual reading of Dante's works, interlacing fine scholarly detail with the universal themes and emotions that have made Dante's words almost archetypal for Western consciousness ... Never dryly archaeological, invariably intelligent, this is a riveting account of Dante the man in all his manifestations.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsIntroduction1. The Early Years2. Dante and Guido Cavalcanti3. Disaster4. The First Years of Exile5. Language and Poetry6. Invitation to a Banquet7. Main Dishes and Trenchers8. The True Definition of Nobility9. Injustice and Avarice10. Dante the Showman11. The Return of Beatrice12. The Story Begins13. Limbo14. Francesca da Rimini15. Dante in Danger16. Dante the Taxonomist17. Creation of Character.18. Down into the Depths19. 'Him of Alagna'20. Virgil and Sorcery21. Devil-Play22. A Den of Thieves23. Tongues of Fire24. The Severed Head25. The Valley of Disease26. Towering Giants27. The Frozen Lake28. Lucifer29. The Tragedy of Henry VII30. Better Waters31. The Morning Sun32. From Humour to Invective33. Close of Day and a New Dawn34. Pride and Humility35. Evil and the Freedom of the Will36. Love, Natural and Rational37. The Mountain Trembles38. Dante and Forese Donati39. Body and Soul40. The Christian Sibyl41. Who is Matilda?42. Dante and hisPatrons43. Prelude to Paradiso44. Beatrice in Heaven45. Propaganda in Paradiso46. The City Walls47. Justice Unfathomed48. Dante and Monasticism49. The Theme's Great Weight50. Faith, Hope and Love51. Hatred in Heaven52. The Creation53. The Departure of Beatrice54. Approach to the Final Vision55. The Vision of the TrinityEpilogueAppendicesChronology of Dante's Life and WorksGuelfs and GhibellinesList of Popes in Dante's LifetimeHoly Roman Emperors Referred to by DanteThe CanzoneNotesSelect Index