Milton and Religious Controversy
Satire and Polemic in Paradise Lost

"King shows that religious satire and polemic are an integral part of Paradise Lost and that the poem was deeply engaged with the religious controversies of the 17th century...Lucidly written.' Choice

"a terrific reference for anyone who works in seventeenth-century English literature...Without a doubt, King's book lays the ground for further work on relations between Milton, Spenser, and the seventeenth-century Spenserians." Spenser Review

"a ...capacious and significant work, continuing King's series of exploration of the impact of the Reformation in English literature and culture. Few books of this length shed more light on religious controversy, and even fewer are better written." Times Literary Supplement

"King has recovered for our time a style of reading and a religio-historical context that enrich our understanding of Paradise Lost. Essential reading for Milton scholars, this book will attract and hold the interest of historians of genre, of intellectual historians, and of historians of religion. It will be useful not only for its argument, but as a reference work on religious abuse, satire, and polemic." Stephen Fallon

"...Milton and Religious Controversy brings fresh insights and considerable erudition to readings of Lycidas and Paradise Lost in a carefully woven polemical context...Scholars of Milton and of seventeenth-century religious history will find much value in this thoughtful and stimulating work." Modern Philology

"...a wonderful little book whose relative brevity might conceal how much material John N. King...manages to pack into 195 pages of text...a triumph of scholarship in its coverage of primary and secondary sources." Christianity and Literature

"...splendid and readable...[King's] determination to disclose Milton's "controversial merriment" leads to a new udnerstanding of the epic." Sixteenth Century Journal

"the exciting and detailed handling of passages accumulates, any disappointment dwindles in the rearview mirror...Catholicism and formalism in the later books of Paradise Lost, and have already been put to good use in at least one classroom." Albion