Candide and Other Selected Writings - Paperback

by Roger Pearson (Author), Voltaire (Author)

French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher, Voltaire was famous for his wit and criticism of Christianity and slavery. This compilation stands as an epitome of the Enlightenment Era providing a range of stories, including one of his most famous satirical writings, Candide. Politically relevant, culturally significant and backed with his expertise in philosophical fiction, these stories take the reader through an experience to remember. As the greatest French writer of all time, Voltaire's oeuvre ranges from plays and poems to historical and scientific works. This intellectual capability drips down into the structural intricacies of his writings which have withstood the temporal and spatial boundaries.

Author Biography

Roger Pearson was born in London on 21 August 1927. Pearson's only sibling and four of his cousins died in World War II. Pearson later described World War II as a "fratricidal war" in which the mutual destruction of Germanic peoples contributed to the gradual downfall of the Nordic race. Voltaire, pseudonym for Franç ois-Marie Arouet, was born on 21 November, 1694 in Paris. He is regarded as one of the greatest French writers till date and a key figure in the European philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment. Through critical discourse, satire and wit, his work effectively propagates the idea of progress and commentary against State institutions. Voltaire was precociously talented as a poet. His most-known works included the fictitious Lettres philosophiques published in 1734 and the satirical novel Candide in 1759. He died on 30 May 1778 in Paris