John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought

by Gordon Campbell, Thomas N. Corns

Written by two of the world's leading Milton scholars, widely praised as "illuminating" ( Times Literary Supplement ), "seamlessly written ( Publishers Weekly ), and "a book of permanent value" ( Literary Review ), and winner of the Milton Society's James Holly Hanford Award, this magnificent
biography sheds fresh new light on the writings, the thought, and the life of poet John Milton. A more human Milton appears in these pages, a Milton who is flawed, self-contradictory, self-serving, arrogant, passionate, ruthless, ambitious, and cunning. He is also among the most accomplished writers
of the period, the most eloquent polemicist of the mid-century, and the author of the finest and most influential narrative poem in English, Paradise Lost , which the book examines in detail. What Milton achieved in the face of crippling adversity, blindness, bereavement, and political eclipse,
remains wondrous. Here is a fascinating biography of this towering literary figure--the first new serious study in forty years--one that profoundly challenges the received wisdom about one of England's leading poets and thinkers.

Genres: Biography, History, Renaissance, Poetry

512 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2007

About the author

Gordon Campbell is a professor, a Renaissance and seventeenth-century specialist with a particular interest in John Milton, and well known for his expertise regarding the King James Bible. His broader interests in cultural history include art, architecture, Biblical studies, classical antiquity, garden history, legal history, historical theology and the Islamic world.

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suppose such a biography as this should be written. Its authors are the first in over a century to review all archival materials and all known life records in preparing this book. It focuses almost entirely on events and dates, and resembles nothing so much as an extended encyclopedia article. I would never have picked it up except that Milton is among the very few writers who fascinate me entirely. The authors attempt in a very limited manner to describe the 'trajectory' of Milton's life, which is helpful, but not very informative, because they've added nothing new that I can discern so far. The attempt not at all to convey a sense of what the experience of 'being Milton' might have been.

[Heidi Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some useful info, but overall rather boring, and I didn’t have enough context to understand the tangential stuff

[Sophia Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and erudite book that explains much about the forces that shaped Milton's thinking.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This is a hero's life, though his heroism is of a rare kind. . . What he achieved in the face of crippling adversity, blindness, bereavement, political eclipse, remains wondrous." In its best passage, this book was a passionate work of scholarship. But sometimes a little peculiar in its conclusions. Why, for instance, insist that circumstances made Milton emphasize spiritual rather than physical aspects of companionship in the divorce tracts?