Dante: The Story of His Life

ISBN: 0674984064

Author: Santagata, Marco

Condition: New

A Times Literary Supplement Book of the YearA Marginal Revolution Best Non-Fiction Book of the YearA Seminary Co-op Notable Book of the YearA Times Higher Education Book of the WeekA Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the YearMarco Santagatas Dante: The Story of His Life illuminates one of the worlds supreme poets from many angles-writer, philosopher, father, courtier, political partisan. Santagata brings together a vast body of Italian scholarship on Dantes medieval world, untangles a complex web of family and political relationships for English readers, and shows how the composition of the Commedia was influenced by local and regional politics.Reading Marco Santagatas fascinating new biography, the reader is soon forced to acknowledge that one of the cornerstones of Western literature [The Divine Comedy], a poem considered sublime and universal, is the product of vicious factionalism and packed with local scandal.-Tim Parks, London Review of BooksThis is a wonderful book. Even if you have not read Dante you will be gripped by its account of one of the most extraordinary figures in the history of literature, and one of the most dramatic periods of European history. If you are a Dantean, it will be your invaluable companion forever.-A. N. Wilson, The Spectator