Project Gutenberg 2006-01-21 Public domain in the USA. 1932 Milton, John 1608 1674 Areopagitica A Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing to the Parliament of England Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areopagitica Produced by Judith Boss and David Widger "Areopagitica" by John Milton is a historical treatise advocating for the freedom of unlicensed printing, written during the 17th century at a time of significant political and religious upheaval in England. The work presents a passionate argument against censorship, emphasizing the importance of free expression and the vital role that literature and debate play in the pursuit of truth and enlightenment. The opening of "Areopagitica" sets the stage for Milton's plea to the Parliament of England, where he expresses his belief that true liberty lies in the ability of individuals to freely communicate their thoughts and ideas. He reflects on the value of unlicensed printing and warns against the dangers of censorship, asserting that suppressing ideas only stifles innovation and discourages intellectual growth. Milton draws on historical examples from ancient Greece and Rome to illustrate the destructive effects of licensing and censorship while calling upon the Parliament to promote a culture of open discourse and inquiry. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 43.6 (College-level). Difficult to read. en Freedom of the press -- Early works to 1800 K Z Text Harvard Classics Banned Books from Anne Haight's list Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches Category: British Literature Category: Philosophy & Ethics Category: Politics 139301 2025-08-01T06:06:51.604863 text/html 133482 2013-02-23T11:55:26 text/html; charset=us-ascii 50790 2013-02-23T11:58:10 text/html; charset=us-ascii application/zip 117160 2025-08-01T06:06:55.940845 application/epub+zip 117592 2025-08-01T06:06:53.478856 application/epub+zip 117591 2025-08-01T06:06:52.421849 application/epub+zip 202134 2025-08-01T06:06:57.836844 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 193747 2025-08-01T06:06:55.324825 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 186686 2022-09-01T06:40:31.711465 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 123243 2025-08-01T06:06:51.270854 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 123175 2013-02-23T11:53:36 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 49201 2013-02-23T11:58:10 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 19454 2025-08-01T06:06:57.964833 application/rdf+xml 10753 2025-08-01T06:06:52.905853 image/jpeg 2863 2025-08-01T06:06:52.660857 image/jpeg 114234 2025-08-01T06:06:51.617857 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia