If you know your Bible, Aeneid, Illiad, and Odyssey, you are off to a good start. I had a professor whose approach welded historical narratives into the works

If you know your Bible, Aeneid, Illiad, and Odyssey, you are off to a good start. I had a professor whose approach welded historical narratives into the works we were reading. In the absence of a good Medieval or English Literature Professor, I'd recommend something like The Connell Guide [1] or the Oxford guide [2]. If you're looking for an all in one with very good marginalia and footnotes, I found the latest Norton Anthology series to be very good (and usually considered the academic definitive). You'd need to find the volume that has Paradise Lost in it, however. [1]: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Connell-Guide-Miltons-Paradise-Advanced/dp/1907776109 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Connell-Guide-Miltons-Paradise-Adva... [2]: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Student-Texts-Milton-Paradise/dp/0198326009/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CNBX8ER9F97RESTACZ2J https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Student-Texts-Milton-Paradis...