Download or read book Candide written by By Voltaire and published by BookRix. This book was released on 2019-06-10 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Candide is a French satire by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism (or simply Optimism) by his mentor, Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow, painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes with Candide, if not rejecting optimism outright, advocating a deeply practical precept, "we must cultivate our garden", in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds". Candide is characterized by its sarcastic tone, as well as by its erratic, fantastical and fast-moving plot. A picaresque novel it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact. Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so too does Candide in this short novel, albeit more directly and humorously. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers through allegory; most conspicuously, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism. As expected by Voltaire, Candide has enjoyed both great success and great scandal. Immediately after its secretive publication, the book was widely banned because it contained religious blasphemy, political sedition and intellectual hostility hidden under a thin veil of naïveté. However, with its sharp wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition, the novel has since inspired many later authors and artists to mimic and adapt it. Today, Candide is recognized as Voltaire's magnum opus and is often listed as part of the Western canon; it is arguably taught more than any other work of French literature. It was listed as one of The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written.
Download or read book Voltaire s Visit to England 1726 1729 written by Archibald Ballantyne and published by . This book was released on 1919 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Sisters of Versailles written by Sally Christie and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-09 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Court intriguers are beginning to sense that young King Louis XV, after seven years of marriage, is tiring of his Polish wife. The race is on to find a mistress for the royal bed. The King's scheming ministers push Louise, the eldest of the aristocratic Nesle sisters, into the arms of the King. Over the following decade, of the five Nesle sisters-- Louise, Pauline, Diane, Hortense, and Marie-Anne-- four will become mistresses to King Louis XV. All will conspire, betray, suffer, and triumph in a desperate fight for both love and power.
Download or read book Voltaire written by Victor Thaddeus and published by . This book was released on 1928 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Voltaire written by Ian Davidson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-03-12 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive biography of Voltaire's life—from his scandalous love affairs and political maneuverings to his inspired philosophy. We think of Voltaire as the archetypal figure of the enlightenment; in his own time he was also the most famous and controversial figure in Europe. This dazzling new biography celebrates his extraordinary life. Davidson tells the whole, rich story of Voltaire’s life (1694-1778): his early imprisonment in the Bastille; exile in England and his mastery of English; an obsession with money, of which he made a huge amount; a scandalous love life; a long exile on the borders of Switzerland; his human-rights campaigns and his triumphant return to Paris to die there as celebrity extraordinaire. Throughout all of this, Voltaire’s life was always informed by two things: a belief in the essential value of toleration in the face of fanaticism; and in the right of every man to think and say what he liked. It is rare to have such a vivid portrait of a great man.
Download or read book Letters Concerning the English Nation written by Voltaire and published by . This book was released on 1741 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Heroes of Modern Europe written by Alice Birkhead and published by Legare Street Press. This book was released on 2023-07-18 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A biographical collection of notable figures who shaped European history from the late 18th to early 20th centuries. Birkhead's insightful writing sheds light on these important figures and their contributions to modernity. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Download or read book History of Charles XII written by Voltaire and published by . This book was released on 1881 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Life of Voltaire written by James Parton and published by . This book was released on 1889 with total page 680 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Life of Voltaire written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall and published by . This book was released on 1905 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Life of Voltaire written by Stephen G. Tallentyre and published by . This book was released on 1910 with total page 656 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Oedipus written by Voltaire and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-08-02 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Œdipus was written when Voltaire was but nineteen years of age. It was played for the first time in 1718, and ran for forty-five nights. Du Frêsne, a celebrated actor, and of the same age as the author, played the part of Œdipus; and Madame Desmarêts, a famous actress, did Jocaste, and soon after quitted the stage. In this edition, the part of Philoctetes is restored, and stands exactly as it was in the first representation. Wilder Publications is a green publisher. All of our books are printed to order. This reduces waste and helps us keep prices low while greatly reducing our impact on the environment.
Download or read book Voltaire in Love written by Nancy Mitford and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2012-11-06 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The inimitable Nancy Mitford’s account of Voltaire’s fifteen-year relationship with the Marquise du Châtelet—the renowned mathematician who introduced Isaac Newton’s revolutionary new physics to France—is a spirited romp in the company of two extraordinary individuals as well as an erudite and gossipy guide to French high society during the Enlightenment. Mitford’s story is as delicious as it is complicated. The marquise was in love with another mathematician, Maupertuis, while she had an unexpected rival for Voltaire’s affections in the future Frederick the Great of Prussia (and later in the philosophe’s own niece). There was, at least, no jealous husband to contend with: the Marquis du Châtelet, Mitford assures us, behaved perfectly. The beau monde of Paris was, however, distraught at the idea of the lovers’ brilliant conversation going to waste on the windswept hills of Champagne, site of the Château de Cirey, where experimental laboratories, a darkroom, and a library of more than twenty-one thousand volumes enabled them to pursue their amours philosophiques. From time to time the threat of impending arrest would send Voltaire scurrying across the border into Holland, but his irrepressible charm—and the interventions of powerful friends—always made it possible for him resume his studies with the cherished marquise.
Download or read book Life of Voltaire written by James Parton and published by . This book was released on 1881 with total page 686 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Philosophical Dictionary written by Voltaire and published by . This book was released on 1824 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Friends of Voltaire written by Stephen G. Tallentyre and published by . This book was released on 1907 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely written by Andrew S. Curran and published by Other Press, LLC. This book was released on 2019-01-15 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Best Book of the Year – Kirkus Reviews A spirited biography of the prophetic and sympathetic philosopher who helped build the foundations of the modern world. Denis Diderot is often associated with the decades-long battle to bring the world’s first comprehensive Encyclopédie into existence. But his most daring writing took place in the shadows. Thrown into prison for his atheism in 1749, Diderot decided to reserve his best books for posterity–for us, in fact. In the astonishing cache of unpublished writings left behind after his death, Diderot challenged virtually all of his century's accepted truths, from the sanctity of monarchy, to the racial justification of the slave trade, to the norms of human sexuality. One of Diderot’s most attentive readers during his lifetime was Catherine the Great, who not only supported him financially, but invited him to St. Petersburg to talk about the possibility of democratizing the Russian empire. In this thematically organized biography, Andrew S. Curran vividly describes Diderot’s tormented relationship with Rousseau, his curious correspondence with Voltaire, his passionate affairs, and his often iconoclastic stands on art, theater, morality, politics, and religion. But what this book brings out most brilliantly is how the writer's personal turmoil was an essential part of his genius and his ability to flout taboos, dogma, and convention.
