ABOUT THIS BOOK

From two leading scholars, a thrilling and rich investigation of the life and work of Dante Alighieri.

Numerous books have attempted to chronicle the life of Dante Alighieri, yet essential questions remain unanswered. How did a self-taught Florentine become the celebrated author of the Divine Comedy? Was his exile from Florence so extraordinary? How did Dante make himself the main protagonist in his works, in a literary context that advised against it? And why has his life interested so many readers? In Dante’s New Lives, eminent scholars Elisa Brilli and Giuliano Milani answer these questions and many more. Their account reappraises Dante’s life and work by assessing archival and literary evidence and examining the most recent scholarship. The book is a model of interdisciplinary biography, as fascinating as it is rigorous.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Elisa Brilli is professor of Italian and medieval studies at the University of Toronto. Giuliano Milani is professor of medieval history at the Université Gustave Eiffel in Paris, France. Mary Maschio and Eva Plesnik are PhD students in medieval studies at the University of Toronto.

REVIEWS

"Sophisticated, thoroughly researched and ecumenical in approach—this is the biography of Dante for the next generation. Instead of chasing illusory scoops, Brilli and Milani probe the elusive relationship between an artist’s life and their works. Highly recommended."

— Justin Steinberg, professor of Italian literature, University of Chicago, and editor-in-chief of "Dante Studies"

"An immense gift to Dante scholars and to non-specialists alike, this is a wonderfully readable account of Dante's life, work and times. Brilli and Milani's biography offers an ideal model of the powers of interdisciplinary collaboration, putting historical documents into dialogue with Dante's own stories of his life. Here, as never before, we see Dante's life illuminated by the expertise that a literary scholar and a medieval historian can, together, offer."

— Heather Webb, professor of medieval Italian literature and culture, University of Cambridge, and fellow of Selwyn College

"A splendidly calibrated restoration of the many ‘lives’ of Dante, this book brings to the English-speaking audience a highly original and very accessible take on the fascinating story of Dante’s life and times. Establishing both dialogue and contrast between documents, history, reported narratives and Dante’s own autobiography, Brilli and Milani show the elusive intrigue of the ‘truth’ of a medieval life."

— Elena Lombardi, professor of Italian literature, University of Oxford, fellow of Balliol College

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abbreviations and Works Cited
Preface
Prologue: Lineages
1 Adolescence
2 Youth in Florence
3 Youth in Exile
4 Old Age
Epilogue: Legacies
References
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index

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