Dante

Description

An international bestseller. Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy has defined how people imagine and depict heaven and hell for over 700 years. However, outside of Italy, his other works are not well-known, and less still is generally known about the context he wrote them in. In Dante, Barbero brings the legendary author's Italy to life, describing the political intrigue, battles, city and society that shaped his life and work.

Alessandro Barbero is an Italian historian, novelist and essayist. He won the 1996 Strega Prize, for Bella vita e guerre altrui di Mr. Pyle gentiluomo. Barbero is the author of The Battle, an account of the Battle of Waterloo, The Day of the Barbarians, the story of the Battle of Adrianople, and Charlemagne. He writes for Il Sole 24 Ore and La Stampa, is the editor of Storia d'Europa e del Mediterraneo and regularly appears on television and radio. In 2005, the Republic of France awarded Barbero with the title of Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Allan Cameron was born in 1952, grew up in Nigeria and Bangladesh, and lived as a young adult in Italy. He has translated twenty-four books including The Anonymous Novel by Alessando Barbero. He lives in Glasgow.

Clear, balanced ... impressive * FT * A vital guide ... It is difficult to imagine anyone seriously interested in Dante who will not want to own this book -- AN Wilson * Times * Barbero's Dante is a carefully built-up figure insulated from the extravagant fancies that have led more starry-eyed chroniclers astray... [A] richly informative biography of a man who can seem so reticent and aloof that at times it feels as if he's hiding behind the 14,233 verses of The Divine Comedy * New York Times * This is a serious study of Dante that concentrates on the life [with] moments of humour, too ... a book for the historian and the general reader alike -- Richard Clegg * Bookmunch * Praise for The Battle: This is not just the best book on Waterloo I've read, it's also one of the most original and stimulating works of military history I've come across in years. -- Simon Shaw * Mail on Sunday * A thoroughly readable, exciting account of a great clash of arm s ... Brilliant. -- Mark Adkin, author of * The Waterloo Companion * Perhaps the most readable and original account for many years. -- John Childs, Professor of History, University of Leeds Alessandro Barbero's new book deserves to be read by anyone with an interest in warfare. -- Dr Gary Sheffield, King's College London