Through a careful and lively analysis of censorship in the Areopagitica, Paul M. Dowling challenges prevailing views of Milton as a Puritan and grapples with a perennial political issue: censorship. In addition to refuting traditional interpretations of Milton, Dowling's reading of the Areopagitica questions the currently fashionable assumption that thinkers unconsciously reflect the tenor of their times. Polite Wisdom will be of interest of political philosophers as well as scholars and students of English literature.