Excerpt from The Divine Comedy of Patriotism In guise of Court F 001 and address them to you: though impersonal, If you find yourself in them the fun will be just so much larger. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The 'Religious Classics - Boxed Set' is an unparalleled assembly of literary works that traverse the expansive fields of spirituality, morality, and human existence. This collection boasts a myriad of styles from the contemplative prose of mysticism to the sharp wit of satirical essays, embodying the diverse ways humanity grapples with the divine. Its significance is amplified by the inclusion of seminal works across centuries, offering readers a unique lens through which to explore religious thought and its impact on culture and society. The anthology succeeds in weaving together the philosophical profundities of Dante Alighieri with the existential musings of Fyodor Dostoevsky, amongst others, highlighting the enduring quest for understanding and meaning. The contributing authors and editors of the 'Religious Classics - Boxed Set' are emblematic of a broad spectrum of historical, cultural, and literary movements, ranging from the Enlightenment to Romanticism, and the existential dilemmas of the modern age. Their collective contributions underscore the anthology's thematic coherence, illuminating the multifaceted nature of religious inquiry. From the devout to the skeptical, these writers, including icons such as Goethe, Twain, and C.S. Lewis, offer a mosaic of thought that navigates the reader through the complexities of faith, doubt, and the quest for truth. This anthology stands as a testament to the rich dialogues that characterize the intersection of literary creativity and religious exploration. Scholars, students, and general readers alike are invited to delve into this treasury of classic literature. Beyond its educational value, the 'Religious Classics - Boxed Set' offers a profound encounter with the spiritual inquiries that have shaped human history, encouraging a reflective examination of one's own beliefs and understandings. It is an essential resource for anyone seeking to comprehend the breadth and depth of human contemplation and the literary articulation of the sacred.

A richly detailed graveyard history of the Florentine poet whose dead body shaped Italy from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the Risorgimento, World War I, and Mussolini’s fascist dictatorship. Dante, whose Divine Comedy gave the world its most vividly imagined story of the afterlife, endured an extraordinary afterlife of his own. Exiled in death as in life, the Florentine poet has hardly rested in peace over the centuries. Like a saint’s relics, his bones have been stolen, recovered, reburied, exhumed, examined, and, above all, worshiped. Actors in this graveyard history range from Lorenzo de’ Medici, Michelangelo, and Pope Leo X to the Franciscan friar who hid the bones, the stone mason who accidentally discovered them, and the opportunistic sculptor who accomplished what princes, popes, and politicians could not: delivering to Florence a precious relic of the native son it had banished. In Dante’s Bones, Guy Raffa narrates for the first time the complete course of the poet’s hereafter, from his death and burial in Ravenna in 1321 to a computer-generated reconstruction of his face in 2006. Dante’s posthumous adventures are inextricably tied to major historical events in Italy and its relationship to the wider world. Dante grew in stature as the contested portion of his body diminished in size from skeleton to bones, fragments, and finally dust: During the Renaissance, a political and literary hero in Florence; in the nineteenth century, the ancestral father and prophet of Italy; a nationalist symbol under fascism and amid two world wars; and finally the global icon we know today.

The enigmatic and richly illustrative tarot deck reveals a host of strange and iconic mages, such as The Tower, The Wheel of Fortune, The Hanged Man and The Fool: over which loom the terrifying figures of Death and The Devil. The 21 numbered playing cards of tarot have always exerted strong fascination, way beyond their original purpose, and the multiple resonances of the deck are ubiquitous. From T S Eliot and his 'wicked pack of cards' in "The Waste Land" to the psychic divination of Solitaire in Ian Fleming's "Live and Let Die"; and from the satanic novels of Dennis Wheatley to the deck's adoption by New Age practitioners, the cards have in modern times become inseparably connected to the occult. They are now viewed as arguably the foremost medium of prophesying and foretelling. Yet, as the author shows, originally the tarot were used as recreational playing cards by the Italian nobility in the Renaissance. It was only much later, in the 18th and 19th centuries, that the deck became associated with esotericism before evolving finally into a diagnostic tool for mind, body and spirit. This is the first book to explore the remarkably varied ways in which tarot has influenced culture. Tracing the changing patterns of the deck's use, from game to mysterious oracular device, Helen Farley examines tarot's emergence in 15th century Milan and discusses its later associations with astrology, kabbalah and the Age of Aquarius.