In 1667 - 355 years ago this month - a young London publisher called Samuel Simmons printed a very important book - John Milton's Paradise Lost. Milton had come to the fore in radical politics and, for a time, was considered an enemy of the state. Paradise Lost was published as his dream of a Godly republic became a reality and then crumbled, and as he himself turned blind and experienced the death of his wife and son.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Thomas Corns about the fascinating history of the writing and publishing of one of the greatest epic poems in the English language.

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