The Cambridge Companion to Voltaire

Description

As a leading thinker of the European Enlightenment, Voltaire is a central figure in France's collective cultural memory. The popularity of Candide has made him perhaps best known as a writer of tales. Yet these represent only a fraction of his entire oeuvre. Voltaire created a style of authorship which made him the most famous writer in Europe and made him a figurehead for a certain style of writing and thinking. This Companion covers his plays, fiction, pamphlets, correspondence, biblical criticism, and historical, political and philosophical thought, to give a wide-ranging view of his writings. The most comprehensive book on Voltaire available in English, it makes accessible the most recent research in France as well as the English-speaking world, in a series of original essays and a guide to sources. The essays demonstrate why Voltaire remains an essential point of reference in defining the modern intellectual today.

Nicholas Cronk is Professor of French Literature and Director of the Voltaire Foundation at the University of Oxford.

'The Cambridge Companion to Voltaire is a fascinating guide to one of the world's most influential authors and thinkers. It will help introduce new readers to Voltaire and encourage others to revisit him. One can only hope that this will facilitate the nurturing of new generations of Voltaire experts, including in Britain.' Reference Reviews