"This convenient single-volume edition contains all three parts of Dante's 14th-century poem; Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso; in an acclaimed translation by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Combining classical and Christian history as well as medieval politics and religion, this trilogy of sublime verse is among Western civilization's most important artistic works and essential reading for students of literature and history. Dante's allegory...

The Divine Comedy is a narrative poem by Dante Alighieri that describes the author’s travels through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso). This trio of books, or canticas, is one example of the number three as a theme throughout the work. Each book consists of 33 cantos, which added to an introductory canto, totals 100. Each cantica follows a pattern of 9 phases plus 1 for a total of ten—9 circles of hell plus Lucifer,...

No words can describe the greatness of this work, a greatness both of theme and artistry. The theme that Dante treats is universal; it involves the greatest concepts which man has ever attained. Only a genius could find the loftiness of tone and the splendor and variety of images and scenes that are presented in The Divine Comedy.