A fresh account of the life, times, politics, loves, and letters of the great English poet. One of the world's great poets, author of the epic Paradise Lost as well as numerous other works, Milton was also deeply involved in the political and religious controversies of his time. Fully immersed in the new and rapidly changing print culture, Milton wrote a series of radical pamphlets on free speech, divorce, and religious, political, and social rights that proposed a complete rethinking of the nature and practice not only of government, but of human freedom itself. Having put his pen at the service of Cromwell's new Commonwealth, when the Restoration came Milton was lucky to escape with his life. Blind by then, he persevered, creating the majestic works that made him immortal. Meanwhile, his personal life was as rich and complex as his professional one, and author Beer illuminates the whole.--From publisher description.