Contested

Areopagitica

by John Milton

Milton’s speech to Parliament, printed in 1644, against the licensing of books before they could be published. “As good almost kill a man as kill a good book,” he wrote, and he printed it without a licence. It has been quoted in nearly every argument about censorship since.

The librarian

Read it in the Library After Dark Or read it as plain text

Reading time

About 1 hr 10 min

Where to find it

The Unwelcome Spines, beyond the Restricted Catalogue

Edition

Project Gutenberg, eBook #608. In the public domain in the United States.