Candide

This lively new translation of Voltaire's satiric masterpiece is accompanied by a short selection of writings of each of the most prominent optimists to whom Voltaire was responding -- Leibniz, Bolingbroke, Shaftesbury, Pope, Wolff, Rousseau, and Malebranche -- and thus offers a better perspective of the intellectual context in which Candide was written, and of its place in Enlightenment though, than does any other edition.

“Wootton's edition is clearly the best on the market--the supporting material is brilliantly chosen and lavishly presented given the cost of the book. --Michael Kulikowski, Smith College”

Along with a brisk and very readable rendition of the text, this edition provides the material necessary for understanding the point of Voltaire's satire. Wootton's Introduction gives an excellent account of the dispute over optimism, and the supplementary texts show both the opposing points of view in this dispute, and its development on other texts of Voltaire. --Christopher J. Kelly, co-editor, The Collected Writings of Rousseau

I annually assign Voltaire's Candide in my Western Civilization since 1500 course. This semester I am using the Hackett edition, having used at least three other editions in the past. What I especially find useful in your edition are the Related Texts. I think they are essential for understanding what Voltaire was addressing. The translation is lively, the notes quite useful, and Wotton's introduction thorough. I don't recall another edition that includes a map. All of these features in an inexpensive paperback--the other editions I've used can’t match it. --Steven Werner, University of Wisconsin-Waukesha

Voltaire; Translated by David Wootton

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