MixedThe Financial Times (UK)The clear, balanced biography by the Italian historian Alessandro Barbero is a valuable corrective to such partial views. He is impressive in his treatment of such perplexing controversies ... Barbero is at his best when, as with the Latini episode, he allows the poem and the life to shed light on each other. Most of the time, though, he limits himself to recounting the life. This inevitably makes it hard for him to answer the question implied in the title of his preface: \'Why Dante Matters\'.
Alexandra Popoff
MixedThe Spectator\"Popoff’s summary of Grossman’s life in the 1930s is striking ... When asked to review a draft of this book, I strongly recommended publication. I did, however, criticise Popoff’s excessive reliance on Lipkin. Since then, she has made many changes, but there are still instances when she has stayed faithful to what is sometimes called ‘intelligentsia folklore\' ...
All in all, this is a clear, well-structured guide to the world Grossman lived in—though it is marred by a certain reluctance to challenge conventional views.\
