Understanding Dante

"John Scott's book gives English-speaking readers the richest and clearest account in any language of Dante's entire oeuvre. . . ." —Times Literary Supplement

“This is the summa of a lifetime’s work on Dante by one of the leading Dantisti in the English-speaking world. Written in perfectly lucid, often vigorous prose, it is a nearly perfect assessment of the status quaestionis in Dante studies.” —Piero Boitani, University of Rome, “La Sapienza”

"Wonderfully detailed and comprehensive, equally attentive to the power of Dante's thinking and the texture of his writing, this book will be an invaluable resource for both beginning and more experienced readers of Dante's works." —Steven Botterill, University of California, Berkeley

“Understanding Dante should quickly become an indispensable work for Dante students and scholars. In an elegantly balanced way, it presents an impressive body of information about Dante and his works, critical debates around them, and the author's own sensitive, learned, and sensible readings.” —Joan M. Ferrante, Columbia University

"Scott, a leading Dante scholar, has written a useful, comprehensive book that will appeal to a broad audience. . . . Genuinely impressive for the amount of information it provides and for its sensitive analysis of Dante's writings, this book is obviously the distillation of decades of dedicated study and teaching [of] one of the giants of world literature. . . . Essential." —Choice

". . . very good, almost ideal. . . . Scott's genial good sense is reflected in every detail of his text. . . . [E]very page bursts with insights and brief accounts of disputed interpretations without ever feeling forced." —Commonweal

"An Australian scholar, Scott is one of the world’s leading Dantisti. In this summa of his career he has written a commanding, elegant overview of Dante’s works, analyzing his historical context; his political, moral, and religious ideas; the structure and texture of his writing; and the state of Dante scholarship. Scott has accomplished the nearly impossible: he has married close interpretation with broad synthesis—and in clear, often vigorous prose. This is a significant and deeply satisfying book." —The Atlantic Monthly

“For the reader looking for an all-purpose guide that takes account of just about everything, John A. Scott's magisterial Understanding Dante is the clear choice. . . . What he has produced is a one-volume handbook that may be helpful to someone trying to 'understand Dante' for the first time-a college student, for instance, or the 'general educated reader' we all still hope is out there-but even more useful to the advanced reader or even the Dante professional” —Christianity and Literature

". . . a most useful, enjoyable, and accomplished resource in Dante studies, and should be found on the shelves not just of every Dante student, or novice seeking a scholarly introduction to the writer, but also of those with a more general interest in medieval literature." —Medium Ævum

"John A. Scott, one of the most distinguished English-speaking Dantists now working, offers in his magisterial Understanding Dante a complete survey of Dante's works that handily supersedes other recent introductions to the poet. . . This volume will without any question establish itself as the indispensable vade mecum for students whether beginning or advanced." —Speculum

"John Scott's Understanding Dante is a significant contribution to the study and teachings of Dante. In eleven chapters Scott has succeeded in providing a relatively succinct overview of Dante's life, world, and work. . . . Although several influential collections of essays on Dante's work have been published in English in the last decades, most importantly in this context the Cambridge Companion to Dante none of these comes close to the comprehensiveness of Understanding Dante. Scott provides the essential background and orientation for the nonspecialist to teach and write about Dante. The book will be especially helpful for teaching Dante in translation in 'great book' or 'world civilization' courses. At the same time, it could also serve as an ideal textbook for courses dealing in more depth with Dante." —Modern Philology

"This book introduces the beginner to Dante's opera omnia, without disregarding aspects that may interest the more experienced reader. . . Scott successfully encapsulates in one important work all the research a beginner needs to undertake in order to understand Dante the author, his problematic life, and how this is reflected in his writings. Rarely has a comprehensive study shown how the man's own experience and his work are inextricably intertwined in such an accessible way." —MLR

"Understanding Dante goes a long way to help bridge this gap between the so-called minor works and the Comedy, and will become a standard handbook in any language and literature department teaching Dante. . . There is no book quite like this in English: it is part introduction, part critical review, and part close reading, and the overall result is a very readable and stimulating survey of Dante's opera omnia." —Sixteenth Century Journal

“ . . . an always intelligent and eloquent guide to the works of the prince of poets. The book is organized chronologically, beginning with Dante's early La Vita Nuova and ending with a discussion of his late eclogues and philosophical disquisitions; about 150 pages are devoted to La Commedia alone.” —Faith and Reason