The Essential Paradise Lost Author:John Carey After its publication in 1667, John Milton s Paradise Lost was celebrated throughout Europe as a supreme achievement of the human spirit. Now it is little read. To bring readers back to Milton s masterpiece, John Carey has shortened it to a third of its original length. In this fascinating reinterpretation, Carey reveals new insights about Milto... more »n s sources of inspiration, while exploring divided readings of the work s key characters. The Essential Paradise Lost presents the epic s greatest poetry, with linking passages that preserve its cosmic sweep from the superhuman defiance of a ruined archangel to a pair of tragic lovers, bewildered to find themselves responsible for the fate of the whole human race."« less