The Cambridge Companion to Voltaire

In 1726 a talented French writer who enjoyed involvement in polemics set off into exile in England. Voltaire had recently received a beating at the hands of the henchmen of the Chevalier de Rohan‐Chabot, followed by a period of imprisonment in the Bastille. During his stay in England Voltaire developed his thoughts and comparisons regarding the respective British and French political, cultural, scientific and religious situations. Using an often idealised Britain Voltaire attacked the faults of the French system which had both stifled and persecuted him. The ensuing work would become the famous Lettres philosophiques. Although initially condemned in...