Candide

Candide

A new, beautifully laid-out, easy-to-read edition of Voltaire's Candide , based on Tobias Smollett's landmark 1765 translation. Candide is Voltaire's 1759 satirical masterpiece, wreaking havoc on the excesses of 18th century French Enlightenment culture. The story begins with our protagonist Candide, a young man living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism by his mentor, Professor Pangloss. This idyllic life is abruptly interrupted, however, by a series of painfully disillusioning events that set him off on a wide-ranging journey. François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), known by his nom de plume Voltaire , was a French enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher famous for his wit and his advocacy for freedom of speech and religion. Tobias Smollett (1721-1771) was a Scottish poet and author, known for his picaresque novels and his thirty-five volume edition of the translated works of Voltaire.