This informative film by Malcolm Hossick uncovers the background history from which Dante came and the way in which he helped to establish a new view of the world where individuals mattered more than rulers.

Without the changes begun in Dante's time it is difficult to see how the democratic system which is now spreading across human society would have become so well established.

Of course, democratic success depends entirely on the quality of the people who run it, and in Dante's visit to the underworld we see that humanity is as capable of behaving badly as achieving great things for society.