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Milton In America

By: Peter Ackroyd

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Paperback | 7 November 1997 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
288 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
19.8 x 12.8 x 2.0

Paperback

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When Peter Ackroyd, one of Britain's undisputed literary masters, writes a new novel, it is a literary event. With his last novel, The Trial of Elizabeth Cree, "as gripping and ingenious a murder mystery as you could hope to come across," in the words of the San Francisco Chronicle, he reached a whole new level of critical and popular success. Now, with his trademark blending of historical fact and fictive fancy, Ackroyd has placed the towering poet of Paradise Lost in the new Eden that is colonial America.

John Milton, aging, blind, fleeing the restoration of English monarchy and all the vain trappings that go with it ("misrule" in his estimation), comes to New England, where he is adopted by a community of fellow puritans as their leader. With his enormous powers of intellect, his command of language, and the awe the townspeople hold him in, Milton takes on absolute power. Insisting on strict and merciless application of puritan justice, he soon becomes, in his attempt at regaining paradise, as much a tyrant as the despots from whom he and his comrades have sought refuge, more brutal than the "savage" native Americans.

As always, Ackroyd has crafted a thoroughly enjoyable novel that entertains while raising provocative questions--this time about America's founding myths. With a resurgence of interest in the puritans (in the movie adaptations of The Scarlet Letter and the forthcoming The Crucible), Milton in America is particularly relevant. It is also entirely absorbing--in short, vintage Ackroyd.

Industry Reviews

"More concise and sardonic than Hawksmoor and Chatterton, and even more mysteriously brilliant, Milton in America fills the reader's mind with images of extraordinary vividness" -- John Bayley * The Times * "A strikingly clever premise for a novel... Ackroyd's prose fizzes and sparkles as brightly as an electrical misconnection" -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Independent * "Consistently funny. Ackroyd's comic genius... is allowed to let rip, with wonderfully enjoyable gusto" -- A.N.Wilson * Literary Review * "A startlingly good novel... authentically tragic and unforgettable" -- Victoria Glendinning * Daily Telegraph *

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