Product Description

'Oh! Monsieur is Persian? That's most extraordinary! How can someone be Persian?' Two Persian travellers, Usbek and Rica, arrive in Paris just before the death of Louis XIV and in time to witness the hedonism and financial crash of the Regency. In their letters home they report on visits to the theatre and scientific societies, and observe the manners and flirtations of polite society, the structures of power and the hypocrisy of religion. Irony and bitter satire mark their comparison of East and West and their quest for understanding. Unsettling news from Persia concerning the female world of the harem intrudes on their new identities and provides a suspenseful plot of erotic jealousy and passion. This pioneering epistolary novel and work of travel-writing opened the world of the West to its oriental visitors and the Orient to its Western readers. This is the first English translation based on the original text, revealing this lively work as Montesquieu first intended.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #167012 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

noble work, noble cause
born into the French nobility in 1689, Montesquieu went on to publish the Persian Letters in 1721. With a writing style that displays a sharp wit, Montesquieu originally published this book anonymously, as in its pages he criticses the French Church, Louis XIV, The Pope, Poetry and Parisian culture. Montesquieu uses corrospondence between two eminent Persians visiting Europe to vent his frustrations with France in his day. The Persian letters also go on to discuss deeper philosophical matters such as the concept of the virtuous life.
The Persian letters is a must for anyone interested in Montesquieu or the French Enlightenment. It is the book which launched his notoreity and set the tone for his political and sociological masterpeice, the spirit of the laws in 1734. Ispiting Rousseau, The Persian letters politically focuses on the brilliance of the 'republics' of the world, but this was a view that Montesquieu would eventually abolish in favour of admiring England's constitutional monarchy. The Persian Letters is a fine work of Historical significance.