Illuminating Milton's Life

An acclaimed Oxford professor has authored an innovative and elegant new biography of John Milton. Once essential reading for visionaries and revolutionaries, from William Blake to Ben Franklin, Milton has now become a literary institution - intimidating rather than inspiring. In "Making Darkness Light," Oxford professor Joe Moshenska rediscovers a poet whose rich contradictions confound his monumental image.

Immersing ourselves in the rhythms and textures of Milton's world, we move from the music of his childhood home to his encounter with Galileo in Florence, into his idiosyncratic belief system and his strange, electrifying imagination. This book will change the way we think about Milton, the place of his writings in his life, and his life in history. It is also a book about Milton's place in our times: about our relationship with the Western canon, about why and how we read, and about what happens when we let someone else's ideas inflect our own.

John Milton was once revered by visionaries and revolutionaries alike, but he has since become a daunting literary figure rather than an inspiring one. In "Making Darkness Light," professor Joe Moshenska of Oxford University offers an innovative and elegant new biography that rediscovers the rich contradictions underlying Milton's monumental reputation.

By immersing readers in the rhythms and textures of Milton's world, Moshenska guides us from the music of the poet's childhood home to his fateful meeting with Galileo in Florence, and into the idiosyncratic belief system and electrifying imagination that shaped his writings. This book, in turn, will reshape our understanding of Milton, the relationship between his life and his work, and his enduring significance in the Western canon.

"Making Darkness Light" is not only a revelatory portrait of Milton himself, but also a profound meditation on why and how we read, and on the transformative power of engaging with another's ideas. It challenges us to reconsider our own preconceptions about this towering literary figure, inviting us to see Milton anew and to reflect on our own evolving bonds with the great works of the past.

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