The perfect balance of tightness and colloquialism . . . Likely to be the best modern version of Dante — Bernard O’Donoghue

Kirkpatrick brings a more nuanced sense of the Italian and a more mediated appreciation of the poem’s construction than nearly all of his competitors ― The Times

We gain much from Kirkpatrick’s fidelity to syntax and nuance… His introduction…tells you, very readable indeed, pretty much all you need for a heightened appreciation of the work ― Guardian

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in 1265 and belonged to a noble but impoverished family. He met Beatrice, who was to be his muse, in 1274, and when she died in 1290 he sought distraction in philosophy and theology, and wrote La Vita Nuova. He worked on the Divine Comedy from 1308 until near the time of his death in Ravenna in 1321.