Customer Reviews

Understanding Dante (The William and Katherine Devers Series in Dante Studies)

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For nonspecialists like me (but probably also for specialists), this book is invaluable. For those uninterested in becoming specialists in Dante but still hold an interest in obtaining a basic grasp of his secondary works, this book is just what you are looking for. John Scott pulls off an extraordinary feat: in less than 500 pages, he provides a comprehensive overview of Dante's oeuvre as well as the major contentious issues in Dante scholarship. The interested lay reader will come away from the book with a solid understanding of what it is possible to know about Dante's views on various issues, such as writing styles, world empire, philosophy, etc., how his views evolved over time, and how his earlier expressions of his beliefs found representation in the Comedy. Scott is comprehensive without being pedantic (though his mastery of the subject matter is clear), all in an engaging writing style. He doesn't shy away from overturning some clearly incorrect interpretations of some giants in the field of Dante studies, like Charles Singleton, and backs up his own interpretations with a solid understanding of relevant secondary materials.

All in all, this is a very impressive work of scholarship that readers like me dream of having at their disposal.