What in Me Is Dark The Revolutionary Life of Paradise Lost

**A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR** ''Lively and humane... Reade''s enthusiasm and curiosity are winning'' GUARDIAN Summoned in Haiti''s struggle against colonial rule, read in prison by the young Malcolm X, and reimagined by Virginia Woolf - this is the revolutionary history of Milton''s epic poem Paradise Lost Orlando Reade shows the many different, surprising, and often contradictory ways in which Milton''s epic poem Paradise Lost has been read across centuries and continents. Boldly original, lively, and far-reaching, What in Me Is Dark is the story of how a work of literature born in the ashes of a failed revolution became an indelible part of the modern imagination. Reade guides us through the epic, exploring how Milton came to write its dark and dazzling poetry, and offers us a new account of its radical, ever-evolving legacy. ''Clever, wide-ranging...witty and sardonic'' NEW STATESMAN

About the author

Orlando Reade is a writer from London. He studied English at Cambridge and Princeton, where he received his PhD in 2020. He has written about culture and politics for publications including Frieze, the Guardian, and the White Review, where he served as a contributing editor. He is currently Assistant Professor of English at Northeastern University London.

Product details

• Authors: Orlando Reade
• Publisher: Vintage UK
• Content: Book
• Product form: Paperback / Softback
• Publication date: 04.09.2025
• Subject: Non-fiction book > Art, literature > Biographies, autobiographies; Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies
• EAN: 9781529923261
• ISBN: 978-1-5299-2326-1
• Pages: 272
• Dimensions (packing): 12.9 x 19.8 x 1.7 cm
• Subjects: Essay, Revolution, Religion, Teaching, Literature, Cultural History, History, Politics, Culture, Society, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary Figures, Biography: literary, Hannah Arendt, Civil War, Poetry, New Jersey, Community, LITERARY CRITICISM / Poetry, Thomas Jefferson, non-fiction, LITERARY CRITICISM / Reference, LITERARY CRITICISM / Comparative Literature, Comparative Literature, Eden, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / General, Christianity, Milton, John Milton, prison, Monarchy, Colonialism, Literary studies: poetry & poets, Literature: history & criticism, George Eliot, Paradise Lost, Black History, Paradise, Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800, Biography: writers, Literary studies: poetry and poets, Slavery, Literary companions, book reviews & guides, English Civil War, Literary companions, book reviews and guides, LITERARY CRITICISM / Novel as Form, British History, beat poets, non-fiction books, Best Books, Revolutionary, London history, Republican, history of slavery, popular books, modern fiction, top books, top 10 books, disobedience, the poetics, books politics, popular books 2025