'Leonard is a Miltonist's Miltonist: a reader of rare sensitivity, and a scholar whose command of Milton's texts and their critical reception is probably unmatched. … Leonard applies his expository gifts and formidable learning to a smaller canvas, exploring, in seven short chapters, the most significant aspects of Milton's major works for a wide, general audience, and in so doing making the case for Milton's value today. It is a splendid contribution.' Timothy Raylor, Milton Quarterly
1. Areopagitica, toleration and free speech; 2. The minor poems and 'the power / to save'; 3. The political prose, 'in liberty's defence'; 4. Paradise Lost, the sublime poem; 5. Paradise Lost, 'solid good'; 6. Paradise regained, 'To the utmost of mere man'; 7. Samson Agonistes, tragedy and terror.