This second edition of The Cambridge Companion to Dante is designed to provide an accessible introduction to Dante for students, teachers and general readers. The volume has been fully updated to take account of the most up-to-date scholarship and includes three new essays on Dante's works. The suggestions for further reading now include the most recent secondary works and translations as well as online resources. The essays cover Dante's early works and their relation to the Commedia, his literary antecedents, both vernacular and classical, biblical and theological influences, the historical and political dimensions of Dante's works, and their reception. In addition there are introductory essays to each of the three canticles of the Commedia that analyse their themes and style. This new edition will ensure that the Companion continues to be the most useful single volume for new generations of students of Dante.

Preface; Chronology; 1. Life of Dante Giuseppe Mazzotta; 2. Dante and the lyric past Teodolina Barolini; 3. Approaching the Vita nuova Robert Pogue Harrison; 4. From auctor to author: Dante before the Commedia Albert Russell Ascoli; 5. Introduction to Inferno Lino Pertile; 6. Introduction to Purgatorio Jeffrey T. Schnapp; 7. 'Shadowy prefaces': introduction to Paradiso Rachel Jacoff; 8. Dante and the Bible Peter S. Hawkins; 9. Dante and the classical poets Kevin Brownlee; 10. Allegory and autobiography John Freccero; 11. A poetics of chaos and harmony Joan Ferrante; 12. The theology of the Commedia A. N. Williams; 13. The poetry and poetics of the creation Piero Boitani; 14. Dante and Florence John M. Najemy; 15. Dante and the empire Charles Till Davis; 16. Dante and his commentators Robert Hollander; 17. Dante in English David Wallace; Further reading.