Areopagitica vs Two Treatises on Government: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Liberty, Politics, Early works to 1800, Philosophy, Nonfiction
Areopagitica
Areopagitica: A speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing to the Parliament of England is John Milton's famous tract against censorship. Published in 1644, Areopagitica is named after a speech by Isocrates, a fifth…
Banned book
vs
Two Treatises on Government
The “Two Treatises of Government” is about the former false principles and foundation of sir Robert Filmer and his followers. They are detected and overthrown. The latter is an essay concerning the true original extent…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Areopagitica is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 7 for Two Treatises on Government.
- Areopagitica has the widest readership — 2686 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| Areopagitica | Two Treatises on Government | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (2686) | — |
| Hardcover | 3.2 (4) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (7) | — |
Reception
| Areopagitica | Two Treatises on Government | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 2686 | 4 |
| Editions | 113 | 112 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 4064 | — |
| Reading it now | 147 | — |
| Written reviews | 239 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 2951 | 5236 |
| Pages | 73 | 422 |