What in Me Is Dark: The Revolutionary Life of Paradise Lost

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A dynamic reappraisal of Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost, exploring its radical origins in the seventeenth century and its revolutionary impact on our culture ever since. Paradise Lost might be the most influential poem written in English. For three and half centuries, readers across the world - especially those seeking revolutions in their own time - have found inspiration in its visions of freedom. In return, they have given Milton's epic new life. Drawing on his own experiences of teaching literature in prisons, Orlando Reade focuses on twelve unexpected readers - from Malcolm X to Virginia Woolf, Hannah Arendt to Thomas Jefferson - whose lives and works have shaped our world. He shows the many different, surprising and often contradictory ways in which Milton's poem 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 offering a new account of its radical, ever-evolving legacy.

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Wonderfully written, intelligent and moving. Orlando Reade follows the enduring conversation between Miltons Paradise Lost and revolutionaries across the centuries, men and women who sought to challenge the oppressive frameworks that defined their world. Reade reminds us that literature is action, that epic poetry has the power to liberate minds, pens, and voices. Behind every revolution is a song. As it turns out, so often that song has been Paradise Lost. -- Leah Redmond Chang, author of * Young Queens *

Author Bio

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.