Product Description

"Voltaire: The Universal Man" is the dramatic life of a key Enlightenment figure, and France's greatest philosopher. Francois Marie Arouet (pen name Voltaire) was born on November 21, 1694 in Paris. He left school at 16 and soon made friends among the Parisian aristocrats where his humorous verses made him a favourite in society circles. However, his satirical wit got him in trouble and he was exiled from France on several occasions, imprisoned twice in the Bastille, and beaten by chevalier de Rohan-Chabot's men after making a public remark which caused that gentleman to look foolish. When back in France Voltaire, who was a millionaire by the age of forty, restored the run-down Chateau de Cirey and began one of the greatest intellectual and romantic relationships of the 18th century with Emilie de Breteuil. Under the patronage of Madame de Pompadour, he became official royal historian. Yet, upon his death, he was denied church burial. In 1814 a right-wing religious group stole his remains and dumped them in a garbage heap.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #165090 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Derek Parker is a writer and reviewer, whose work includes travel guides and historical biographies. His previous books include Nell Gwyn, Cellini and Casanova, all for Sutton Publishing. He lives in Sydney, Australia and London, UK.

Customer Reviews

New insights
Was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this book in Waterstones - I think this is the first biography of Voltaire to come out in years and it is also first-class.

Derek Parker gives lots of information unfortunately passed over in the normal course of studying Voltaire, and having read the book you realise you now know a lot more about the man behind the works that made his fame (Candide, Zadig, Lettres philosophiques etc.). It is reassuring to read a balanced, well-researched view of both Voltaire's faults and his merits, and I like the way Parker's text seems to flow so effortlessly from beginning to end.

Fascinating and highly recommended.