4**** rather than 5***** because of the at least occasionally slipshod editing:

page xii (explaining the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars): Shakespeare and Cervantes are sometimes said to have died on the same day (23 April 1623), but in fact Cervantes died ten days before Shakespeare, because Spain had adopted the Gregorian calendar. The year, of course, should be 1616, not 1623.

page 3 (influence of Milton on the American Revolution): the case for ecclesiastical disestablishment in Virginia (for which Franklin drew on the anti-prelatical tracts).... It should, of course, read "Jefferson" rather than "Franklin."

page 370 (the Glorious Revolution): the point at which the grandees of English politics decided James II should be ousted, and William of Orange, with his wife Anne, should be installed. William III was, of course, married to Mary II; Mary's sister, the future Queen Anne, was William's sister-in-law.

I'm not nitpicking. This biography is chock full of minutiae of detail, and such obvious editorial errors make one wonder whether there are less obvious glitches elsewhere.

This book is a biography of Milton, not study of his poetry, and in fact there is at least as much attention devoted to his polemical and scholarly prose as there is to his poetry. Interest in Milton the writer could best be satisfied by a reading of the supplementary materials to the two Norton Critical volumes of Milton – in fact, the second and third editions of the PL Norton Critical are both worthy of library inclusion for their differing critical articles, and they should be supplemented with the companion Norton volume of the other poetry and some selected prose with the accompanying supplement. And don't try reading this Campbell-Corns biography without first giving a thorough read/reread to all of the major poetry (yes, that even includes Comus {sigh}) because Campbell-Corns will reference Milton's work but presume knowledge and not go into extensive detail.

Beginners might want to turn first to Milton: Poet, Pampleteer, and Patriot by Anna Beer. The Beer biography is far less comprehensive than Campbell-Corns but will give an easier introduction which can then be followed up by the more detailed Campbell-Corns. ( )

A very erudite biography of John Milton which smashes some commonly-held misconceptions concerning Milton and his works. A heterodox Protestant, a supporter of regicide, though not quite the radical republican that some have thought, Milton is best known for Paradise Lost, yet he mostly wrote polemical prose (in both Latin and English) for the Protectorate and other state bodies before releasing a great deluge of creative work in his last decades. He is perhaps the only English writer that can meaningfully be compared to Virgil, though Edmund Spenser fans might dispute this. He is also of the eminence of Shakespeare, though much less widely read.

This biography takes a chronological approach, which is fair enough. It relates each major period of Milton's life, focussing on important events in his life and in the wider world. In fact, that focus on the wider world becomes a bit egregious at times. Yes, all of it is probably relevant and interesting, but Campbell and Corns often focus as much on minutiae of statecraft as on Milton's creative work. It probably depends on what one's interests are, but would have preferred more analysis of the poetry and other creative work.

The biography is very professional, and has oodles of notes and a great bibliography. Anyone interested in Milton should read this as a corrective to commonplace misconceptions, such as that Milton was not paid fairly for Paradise Lost, or that Samson Agonistes is a veiled biographical work. ( )

Simply the definitive biography. ( )