Description
In Milton and the Ends of Time, a team of leading international scholars addresses Milton's treatment of millennial and apocalyptic ideas, topics of major importance in the religious and philosophical thought of his day. The subject has wide-ranging ramifications for the interpretation of Milton's poetry and prose, as his speculations on the ends of time played a vital part in shaping the Miltonic quest and vision. This collection thinks critically about Milton's eschatology by arguing that Milton expressed radical millenarian views after the Restoration and by demonstrating the pervasiveness of apocalyptic ideas in Milton's thought. It also provides a broad range of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives; approaches include Milton and the visual arts, Milton's politics and theology, Milton and science and comparative poetics. This volume will be of interest to literary, religious and political historians of the seventeenth century, as well as Milton specialists. Review: This is a fascinating, carefully argued book, taking Milton's 'monism' in a different direction, and it will need to be engaged by those who write on or teach Milton. Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 The high quality and diverse disciplines represented in the volume will appeal to scholars in many fields as well as stimlating new readings by Miltonists. The work adds a necessary contribution to the complex field of seveteenth-century eschatology. Renaissance Quarterly, Margaret J. Arnold