Booth writes 'secret history of Dante'

08.05.13 | Joshua Farrington - The Bookseller

Quercus has released an e-book designed to appeal to readers of Dan Brown's forthcoming Inferno, out next week from Transworld.

The Secret History of Dante: Unearthing the Mysteries of the Inferno is by Jonathan Black, a pen name of Mark Booth, publisher at Hodder & Stoughton imprint Coronet and author of The Secret History of the World (Quercus).
Quercus' e-book was released yesterday (7th May) and aims to explore some of the arcane background to Dante's poem, including hidden codes in the book, connections to the mysterious Knights Templar and "a 2,000-year-old conspiracy".

Iain Millar, e-book publisher at Quercus, said the book would be "a timely and insightful guide to Dante and his enduring legacy" and that Booth was "one of the leading experts in the field".

Meanwhile Profile will publish Inferno Decoded: A Guide to the Myths and Mysteries of Dan Brown's Inferno on 6th June. Written by Michael Haag, the book promises to deliver "crucial background on the characters, codes, symbols, secrets and setting of the novel".

Inside Dan Brown's Inferno by Greg Taylor, published by Daily Grail Publishing on 19th February, seeks to understand potential themes of thenovel and explain the geography that lies behind it. It also claims that Inferno's release date contains a code.