He was sickly and feeble but miraculously managed to extend his lifespan to eighty-four years, travel abroad, and survive in prison he was made wealthy by various benefactors and seemed generally happy but could be very cynical and antagonistic in his writing and most notoriously, he was a deist whose hatred of Christianity could make him appear to be an atheist. Normally I don't bother to mention a book's introduction in a review, but Redman's is so good I make a notable exception. One of the attractions of this particular volume is the introduction by Ben Ray Redman, who delivers with witty, flowing prose an extremely interesting short biography and a summary of the man's philosophy.
Voltaire famous books portable#
"The Portable Voltaire" is an excellent compendium of the major works of the man who became the most famous iconoclast of the French Enlightenment. Voltaire, - 1694-1778 - Criticism and interpretation.
Voltaire, - 1694-1778 - Translations into English.Most of what he hated about Christianity was the clergy-their hypocrisy, their adherence to practices he found absurd, their conceit that everything in the universe is made exclusively for man's consumption and amusement-and the superstition and fanaticism exhibited by the more extreme practitioners of the faith. This collection of Voltaires famous philosophical essays, most calling for social reform, includeOn Superstition andOn the Interpretation of the New. Summary: The Portable Voltaire is an excellent compendium of the major works of the man who became the most famous iconoclast of the French Enlightenment.