This Norton Critical Edition of Dantes masterpiece is based on Michael Palmas verse translation, which is acclaimed for its elegant rendering of Dantes triple-rhyme scheme into contemporary English. Richard Wilbur praises Palmas translation as accurate as to sense, fully rhymed, and easy, as a rule, in its movement through the tercets. Readers will find it admirably clear and readable. The text is accompanied by detailed explanatory annotations. Also included in this edition are an illuminating introduction by Giuseppe Mazzotta, a Translators Note, The Plan of Dantes Hell, and six maps and illustrations. Criticism provides twelve interpretations by, among others, John Freccero, Robert M. Durling, Alison Cornish, Teodolinda Barolini, Giuseppe Mazzotta, and Robert Hollander. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.