Casting a fresh perspective on the greatest long poem in English, David Hopkins guides the reader through the inspiring poetic landscape of Milton's great epic Paradise Lost , a work of literature which has compelled and fascinated readers down the ages and which offers enduring insight into the human condition A welcome aesthetic focus on the poetic experience of reading Paradise Lost rather than its religious or political context Provides a nuanced, unified vision of the poem from a celebrated authority on English poetry of the period Includes consideration of the poem's earlier champions and critics Passionately advocates Paradise Lost' s continuing artistic and philosophical relevance