François-Marie Arouet 1694 – 1778 was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher (philosophe). Known by his nom de plume M. de Voltaire, he was famous for his wit and his criticism of Christianity, especially of the Roman Catholic Church and of slavery. Voltaire was an advocate of freedom of speech, freedom of religion and separation of church and state. He was a versatile and prolific writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, histories and scientific expositions. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and 2,000 books and pamphlets. Voltaire was one of the first authors to become renowned and commercially successful internationally. He was an outspoken advocate of civil liberties and was at constant risk from the strict censorship laws of the Catholic French monarchy. His polemics witheringly satirized intolerance, religious dogma and the French institutions of his day. His best-known work and magnum opus, Candide, is a novella which comments on, criticizes and ridicules many events, thinkers and philosophies of his time.

 CONTENTS:

The Philosophical Fiction
ZADIG
MICROMEGAS
CANDIDE; OR, THE OPTIMIST
L’INGÉNU
THE MAN OF FORTY CROWNS
OTHER PHILOSOPHICAL TALES

The Plays
OEDIPUS
MARIAMNE
ZAIRE
CAESAR
THE PRODIGIAL
MEROPE
OLYMPIA
THE ORPHAN OF CHINA
BRUTUS
MAHOMET
AMELIA
SOCRATES
ALZIRE
ORESTES
SÉMIRAMIS
CATILINE
PANDORA
THE SCOTCH WOMAN
NANINE
THE PRUDE
THE TATLER
PREFACES TO PLAYS

The Poetry
THE HENRIADE
THE MAID OF ORLEANS
THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE AND OTHER POEMS

The Philosophical Works
LETTERS ON ENGLAND
PHILOSOPHICAL LETTERS
A PHILOSOPHICAL DICTIONARY
TOLERATION AND OTHER ESSAYS
AN ESSAY ON CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS

The Historical Works
AGE OF LOUIS XIV
THE HISTORY OF PETER THE GREAT, EMPEROR OF RUSSIA
HISTORY OF CHARLES XII

The Criticism
VOLTAIRE by John Cowper Powys
VOLTAIRE’S TRAGEDIES by Lytton Strachey
VOLTAIRE AND FREDERICK THE GREAT by Lytton Strachey
INGERSOLL’S LECTURE ON VOLTAIRE by Robert Green Ingersoll
VOLTAIRE AND KING STANISLAS by Henry W. Wolff
VOLTAIRE IN THE NETHERLANDS by C. A. Van Sypesteyn

The Biographies
VOLTAIRE by John Morley
VOLTAIRE: A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND WORKS by G. W. Foote and J. M. Wheeler
VOLTAIRE: BRIEF BIOGRAPHY by George Saintsbury