'[Milton] belongs with Shakespeare and Wordsworth precisely because his writing balances so transcendently both the conservative and the revolutionary. In one artistic lifetime, he was both historian an d explorer.'- CHRISTOPHER RICKS Here in one volume are the texts of the two of the greatest-and most controversial-epic poems in English literature, each a profound exploration of the moral problems of God's justice. Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained demonstrate Milton's genius for fusing sense and sound. Classicism and innovation, narrative and drama, fortifying not merely our sense of what is beautiful but what is human as well. It leaves readers with no choice but to commit themselves totally with their minds and with their hearts.'[Milton] can please when pleasure is required; but it is his peculiar power to astonish.' - SAMUEL JOHNSON, The Life of MiltonEdited and with Notes by Christopher RicksWith an Introduction by Dr. Susanne Woods and a New Afterword by Fay Weldon