Voltaire: A Life

Ian Davidson

Profile, 2010 - Authors, French - 538 pages

Davidson tells the whole, rich story of Voltaire's life (1694-1778): his early imprisonment in the Bastille; exile in England and his mastery of English; an obsession with money, of which he made a huge amount; a scandalous love life; his infatuation with Frederick the Great; a long exile on the borders of Switzerland; his passion for watch-making; his human rights campaigns and his triumphant return to Paris to die there as celebrity extraordinaire. Throughout all of this Voltaire's life was always informed by two things: a belief in the essential value of toleration in the face of fanaticism; and in the right of every man to think and say what he liked. It is rare to have such a vivid portrait of a great man.

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Voltaire: A Life

User Review  - Bob T. Ivey - Book Verdict

Davidson (former chief foreign affairs columnist, Financial Times; Voltaire in Exile) has written an enthralling biography of the titan of the French Enlightenment, giving readers the first birth-to ...

About the author

Ian Davidson worked for the Financial Times for many years (among other things as Paris correspondent and as chief foreign affairs columnist). His earlier Voltaire in Exile (2004), was called 'powerful and illuminating ... revealing and disturbing' by the Sunday Times.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Voltaire: A Life
• Author: Ian Davidson
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Profile, 2010
• ISBN: 1846682266, 9781846682261
• Length: 538 pages