A better introduction to the Divine Comedy than just the Inferno

The Essential Dante includes 34 cantos carefully selected to not leave students in hell. Get them through to Paradiso. If you must compromise, do it right!

Too many people read the Inferno only and think they have gained a good grasp of what Dante is doing in the greatest poem ever written. But you cannot fully understand even his vision of Hell, let alone his entire project, without experiencing the Beatific Vision at the end of Paradiso and the journey he takes to get there.

Offering a selection of cantos from the whole Divine Comedy (12 from Inferno, 12 from Purgatorio, and 10 from Paradiso), with summaries for all 100 filling out the narrative, as well as a selection of passages from all of Dante’s prose works, with substantial and informative introductions to all of the above from Dante scholar and translator Dr. Joe Carlson, this volume represents a highly unique and valuable introduction to the works and thought of Dante Alighieri.

Watch: Introduction and Discussion on The Essential Dante (7 min)