Books by John Milton

John Milton (1608–1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and scholarly civil servant celebrated alongside William Shakespeare as one of the supreme poetic masters of the English language. A staunch republican and intellectual champion of individual liberty, Milton served as Secretary for Foreign Tongues under the Commonwealth of Oliver Cromwell, penning courageous defenses of republicanism, regicide, and freedom of the press, most notably his 1644 treatise Areopagitica. Following the restoration of the monarchy and afflicted by total blindness, Milton composed his monumental biblical epic, Paradise Lost (1667). Written in majestic, unrhymed blank verse, Paradise Lost dramatizes the rebellion of Satan, the war in Heaven, and the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden with theological grandeur and astonishing psychological complexity. Followed by Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes, Milton’s sublime blank verse, profound classical erudition, and passionate defense of spiritual autonomy cemented his immortal stature in world literature.