John Milton: Paradise Lost

Rating:
Summary: A superb, user-friedly edition
Review: Paradise Lost is my favorite work in the English language, and this is my favorite edition of it (I have quite a few). The editor, Roy Flannagan, does a superb job with the footnotes. They address just about every question a modern reader might have, provide plenty of historical context and explain in detail the zillions of references and names that someone who is not intimately familiar with all of Milton's sources (among them the Bible and ancient Greek and Roman mythology) will have a hard time understanding. Flannagan's infectious enthusiasm for this poem comes across loud and clear, and he never condescends to readers that lack a PhD, like Merritt Hughes does in his scholarly edition of Paradise Lost. Finally, the page layout of the Flannagan edition makes reading and note taking real easy. In sum, this is hands down the best edition of Paradise Lost.

Rating:
Summary: Classical Epic poem
Review: Very hard to read if you are non English speaking man. But it is very interesting to read the classical masterpiece of 17-th century. So if you really interested in such things, don't think simply get it.