Books by Dante Alighieri
“It’s a poem that comes out of conflict in Florence in various ways. In a most literal sense it comes out of Dante’s exile – he was exiled in 1302 as a result of the conflicts between several political factions and he remained exiled, in various parts of Italy, for the remainder of his life (he died in 1321). The Commedia reflects that acute sense of the loss of one’s homeland and the resentment of that – Florence gets attacked quite viciously by characters in the Inferno. And then there’s the epigraph for the Inferno: ‘A Florentine by birth but not by disposition.'” Read more...
Nick Havely, Literary Scholar
Interviews where books by Dante Alighieri were recommended
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1
The Confessions
by Augustine (translated by Maria Boulding) -
2
The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso
by Dante Alighieri -
3
The Cloud of Unknowing
by Anonymous -
4
The Desert Fathers
by Translated by Helen Waddell -
5
A Pilgrim’s Progress
by John Bunyan -
6
The Book of Her Life
by Teresa of Avila
Books by Christian Authors
Books by Christian Authors
A list of recommendations for readers looking for books by Christian authors, compiled from years of Five Books interviews. From allegorical fiction written for children to 14th-century mystical texts, this is a collection that is bound to contain a book that appeals to you.
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1
The Odyssey
by Homer and translated by Emily Wilson -
2
The Mahabharata
by Anonymous & translated and abridged by John D. Smith -
3
The Epic of Gilgamesh
by Anonymous & Sophus Helle (translator) -
4
Paradise Lost
by John Milton -
5
The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso
by Dante Alighieri -
6
Pharsalia
by Jane Wilson Joyce (translator) & Marcus Annaeus Lucanus
Epic Poems
Epic Poems
Epic poems are amongst the first works of literature that survive, the earliest poems—like the Epic of Gilgamesh—likely part of oral traditions that were written down only after writing developed from the third millennium BCE. Later writers often took inspiration from earlier works and poems like Homer’s Iliad have had a huge impact on Western literature into the 21st century.
The best books on Dante, recommended by Nick Havely
Dante’s epic poem The Divine Comedy has inspired countless thinkers and writers since it was first published almost 700 years ago. Here, Dante scholar and author Nick Havely picks the best five books on how one medieval poet had such a lasting impact on world literature, and how Dante’s vitality transmits into modern culture.
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1
The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso
by Dante Alighieri -
2
Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation
by E.H. Gombrich -
3
Leonardo da Vinci: i documenti e le testimonianze contemporanee
by Edoardo Villata -
4
The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci
by Jean Paul Richter -
5
Leonardo da Vinci
by Kenneth Clark
The best books on Leonardo da Vinci, recommended by Martin Kemp
The best books on Leonardo da Vinci, recommended by Martin Kemp
Every generation has its own Leonardo, and for many he remains a man of mystery. Martin Kemp, Emeritus Professor in Art History at Oxford and the author of Mona Lisa: The People and the Painting, helps us identify the non-mythical Leonardo. What might Leonardo be doing were he alive today, in our own digital age?
A N Wilson recommends the best Christian Books
The British writer, A.N. Wilson, recommends books that have helped him understand what Christianity means and to truly believe.
The best books on Cowardice, recommended by Chris Walsh
The acting director of the Writing Program at Boston University argues that cowardice can still be part of our ethical vocabulary, but that we must learn from history’s mistaken identification of the traumatised as cowards.