Product Description

This richly evocative novel-in-letters tells the story of two Persian noblemen who have left their country – the modern Iran – to journey to Europe in search of wisdom. As they travel, they write home to wives and eunuchs in the harem and to friends in France and elsewhere. Their colourful observations on the culture differences between West and East culture conjure up Eastern sensuality, repression and cruelty in contrast to the freer, more civilized West – but here also unworthy nobles and bishops, frivolous women of fashion and conceited people of all kinds are satirized. Storytellers as well as letter-writers, Montesquieu’s Usbek and Rica are disrespectful and witty, but also serious moralists. Persian Letters was a succès de scandale in Paris society, and encapsulates the libertarian, critical spirit of the early eighteenth century.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #282987 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-27
• Original language: French
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Charles-Louis de Scondat (1689 - 1755) was born into an eminent family of parliamentaires. He inherited the barony of Monesquieu in 1715 and published the Persian Letters anonymously five years later. Christopher Betts is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of French STudies at the University of Warwick. He has written books and articles on eighteenth-century French fiction and thought and has translated Rousseau's Social Contract

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.