The Life of the Author: John Milton

John Milton

By: Richard Bradford

Narrated by: David Vickery

It is hard to overstate the role that John Milton played in the historical, political, and literary controversies of 17th-century England; his writings and very life challenged the status quo. Struggling to reconcile his private beliefs with his involvement with a radical political experiment, a republic which involved the killing of the monarch, his star rose and fell several times during his life. Married three times, struck blind at a cruelly early age, he was a famed pamphleteer and political activist whose revolutionary political credos placed him in mortal danger after the Restoration.

This fascinating new biography is divided into two parts. The first separates the man from the myth, and elucidates the complicated details of Milton's life from his early years as a literary artist uncertain of his destiny, through his work as a propagandist for the Cromwellian republic, to his rewriting of the Old Testament story of the Fall as a poetic allegory of more recent history. The second looks at how biographers and critics from the 17th century to the present day have distorted and manipulated the personality of Milton to suit their biases.

©2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. (P)2021 Tantor

Well done

The first part is easy and interesting to listen to, especially if you're reading Paradise Lost at the same time. The second part is an academic deep-dive that is a lot to wade through, but the author's common sense conclusion demonstrates how detached from reality moden academia has become.