The Cambridge Companion to Dante

No literary work, other than the Bible, has been the subject of (or needed) so many commentaries and notes as Dante's Commedia. If you are looking to really appreciate the poem, I'd recommend reading it first, then reading this "companion" then returning to reread the poem. Let this book be your Virgil.

This is an able commentary to Dante, but make sure you are clear on which edition you are purchasing: the most recent (as of this review) is a March 2007 version. Sufficient edits, insights and scholarly arguments (let's not quite call them developments) exist in the 14 years between publications to make it worth being certain what you're buying before you buy. Then again - the 1993 edition is available used for under three bucks, while the 2007 edition ranges from $25 to $50. So... choose your priority.

Dante criticism has a life of its own: call it vegetable. Then again, this has been the case almost since Dante first wrote his Commedia. Though not the best text for one intending to leap into the Inferno for the first time, this canto by canto commentary, an able addition to the mountain of Dante scholarship, provides clear, interesting, scholarly help to anyone who has spent time with Dante as scholar or teacher or interested reader.

This companion is an excellent guide to Dante's life, work, and thought. It is especially useful for those readers of the Comedy who want more information on specific allusions than most footnoted editions can supply. It is also helpful for an understanding of the complex political and religious turmoils in which Dante was embroiled, and which showed up continuously throughout his work.