In this compelling first volume in the Blackwell Introductions to Literature series, Roy Flannagan, editor of The Milton Quarterly, provides a readable and uncluttered critical account of a complicated and sophisticated author, and his poetry and prose.

• Puts John Milton under the microscope, using the still-evolving critical perspectives of the last fifty years
• Looks at Milton's life, and the cultural background to his work, as well as examining his writing
• Considers how and why Milton's work has endured the centuries to educate, entertain and...