The Age of Voltaire: A History of Civlization in Western Europe from 1715 to 1756, with Special Emphasis on the Conflict between Religion and Philosophy

Summary

The Age of Voltaire, the ninthvolume of the Story of Civilization, is an in-depth examination of France and England inthe first half of the eighteenth century. In this masterful work, listenerswill encounter

• the English ideas thatinspired the Enlightenment in France—skepticism, scientific experiment,constitutional government, “natural rights,” and individual liberty;
• the salons of Paris,where the wits and thinkers of all Europe gathered to exchange ideas;
• the philosophes—intellectuals, playwrights, and poets whoconsulted and consorted with kings and queens;
• Voltaire himself—theincarnation of the Enlightenment and a devotee of reason who still defendedreligious faith;
• Mme. Pompadour, patronof the philosophes, who seduced King Louis XV and through himinfluenced French policy;
• the Augustan Age inEnglish literature—Alexander Pope’s poetry, Jonathan Swift’s satires, and thenovels of Samuel Richardson and Henry Fielding; and
• the growing parasitismof the aristocracy and rising power of the commercial class.