From the moment of its publication in 1667, Paradise Lost was regarded as the most commanding and influential epic poem in the English language.

Paradise Lost explores questions regarding man and God that are as relevant today as in the 17th century. Written "to justify the ways of God to men", it tells the story of Lucifer's expulsion from Heaven and Adam's subsequent banishment from Eden.

 Divided into twelve books, Paradise Lost starts off with a vision of Hell (quite different from Dante's), in that Hell is defined not so much a place but an environment we ourselves create.

"The mind is its own place, and in itself

Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.”

Paradise Lost is a long, difficult, challenging read, a work that must be savored, as Milton conjures up a vast, awe-inspiring cosmos that casts a naked Adam and Eve at the very center of its timeless story.

JOHN MILTON (1608-1674 has long been recognized as the greatest poet in English after Shakespeare and a world literary colossus. He is most celebrated for Paradise Lost, his masterwork, the supreme epic poem in English.