Paradise Lost — Again

Milton’s Paradise Lost will be receiving a favorable review in an upcoming LJ.  

The only question is why British journalist Giles Milton (White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and Islam’s One Million White Slaves) succumbed to the tempation to give his book on post-World War I Smyrna that title (with the subtitle Smyrna 1922). Even if he was tickled by the conjunction of his estimable last name and that estimable title, one does wonder why his editor did not lie awake at night counting the potential customers keying in "Milton Paradise Lost" and not getting anywhere near Smyrna, or, being asked upon inquiring at a Barnes & Noble information desk, "Do you want the Penguin Classic or the Norton Critical?" 

In a related case, Great Expectations has re-emerged over the years with subtitles ranging from John Singer Sargent Painting Children; to The Troubled Lives of Political Families to Your All-in-One Resource for Pregnancy and Childbirth. But at least none of the authors was named Dickens! 

So here’s hoping that no confusion ensues — because Giles Milton’s Paradise Lost is a book worth reading. 

Find it!