John Milton's career as a writer of prose and poetry spans three distinct eras: Stuart England; the Civil War (1642-1648) and Interregnum, including the Commonwealth (1649-1653) and Protectorate (1654-1660); and the Restoration. When Elizabeth I, the so-called Virgin Queen and the last of the Tudors, died, James VI, King of Scots, was enthroned as Britain's king. Titled James I, he inaugurated the House of Stuart. His son and successor, Charles I, continued as monarch until he lost the Civil War to the Parliamentarians, was tried on charges of high treason, and was beheaded on 30 January 1649. For eleven years thereafter England was governed by the military commander and later Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, who was succeeded by his son, Richard. By 1660 the people, no longer supportive of the Protectorate, welcomed the Restoration, the return of the House of Stuart in the person of Charles II, son of the late...