“[This] marvelous biography peels back layer upon layer of previous myth to render a startling new portrait of the countess. . . . Absorbing.” —Publishers

Offers an analysis of the presence and significance of female characters in Dante's 'Comedy'. Commencing with the tabulations of women listed in "Inferno IV" an

Once there was a gospel written in Christ's own hand: a treasure of almost unimaginable magnitude, referred to by the Cathars of medieval France as The Book of