Book description
Satan is out for revenge. His rebellion has failed, he has been cast
out from heaven and is doomed to spend eternity in hell. Somehow he must
find a way to prove his power and wound his enemies. He fixes upon God's
beloved new creations, Adam and Eve, as the vehicles of his vengeance.
In this dramatic and influential epic, Milton tells the story of the
serpent and the apple, the fall of man and the exile from paradise in
stunningly vivid and powerful verse. John Milton was born on 9
December 1608. He studied at St Paul's School and then at Christ's
College, Cambridge. He wrote poetry in Latin and Italian as well as
English and travelled in Italy between 1638 and 1639. He married Mary
Powell in 1642 but their relationship quickly broke down and they lived
apart until 1645. They had four children, three daughters and a son who
died in infancy. During the Interregnum after the execution of Charles
I, Milton worked for the civil service and wrote pamphlets in support of
the new republic. He also began work on his masterpiece,
Paradise Lost
, as early as 1642. His first wife died in 1652 and he married again in
1656, although his second wife died not long afterwards in 1658. When
the monarchy was restored in 1660 Milton was arrested but was released
with a fine. In 1663 he married his third wife, Elizabeth Minshull and
he is also thought to have finished Paradise Lost
in this same year. He published the companion poem, Paradise Regained
, in 1671. John Milton died on 8 November 1674.
