About the book: 2004 / The book by the famous French historian Pierre Antonetti covers various aspects of the life of Florence at the turn of the XIII-XIV centuries, in one of the most dramatic periods its development, when the old foundations and traditions were collapsing, and the Christian and knightly Middle Ages were being replaced by the tough and rational New Age. It was during this era that the greatest Florentine poet, author of The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri, lived and worked..