Voltaire in exile : the last years, 1753-78 /

A probing and careful biographer, Davidson recognizes that the transforming event of Voltaire's life came when he was banished from France. Losing his place in a country that idolized him as a poet and dramatist awakened Voltaire to political issues transcending national boundaries. In this chronicle of Voltaire's deep involvement in a series of post-exile campaigns to reverse barbaric court rulings, Davidson limns the great writer's remarkable transformation from a literary celebrity into an international champion of human rights. That metamorphosis generated scores of spirited letters initially appealing simply for the lives and liberty--or posthumous reputations--of specific individuals but finally demanding the radical reforms needed to free judicial proceedings from ecclesiastical tyranny. Davidson piquantly details Voltaire's real and unrelenting fight against the church hierarchy but also explodes the mythical image of Voltaire as an atheist and an egalitarian revolutionary. The brilliant writer of Candide knew all too well that this is far from the best of all possible worlds ; this valuable study shows how resolutely he labored to make it a better one. --Bryce Christensen Copyright 2004 Booklist

Exiled from his native Paris in 1753 on dubious grounds, Voltaire spent the last years of his life in banishment from his family, Parisian intellectual coterie, and the court of Versailles. Defining those years as "the happiest and most productive" in Voltaire's life, Davidson (formerly with the Financial Times) argues that during this pivotal time Voltaire became a vociferous champion of the lowly and oppressed, eagerly seeking to fight injustice and reform the penal system, as revealed in his masterpiece Candide. Voltaire corresponded voluminously with his family, friends, and admiring intellectuals who acknowledged his international celebrity and genius. Davidson sheds light on his compelling letters, rich with trenchant insights into the nature and abiding impact of Christianity, the English parliamentary system, art, and more. To commoners Voltaire's name became synonymous with high-principled struggle against the abuses of monarchy, and to the revolutionaries he appeared as the prophet and harbinger of liberalism and toleration. Here Voltaire ultimately emerges as an aging man of wit, versatility, and erudition who suffers his exile stoically and fervently combats superstition and fanaticism. Although illuminating, this account should be read in conjunction with a more comprehensive biography owing to its narrow focus. Recommended for extensive literature collections in large libraries.-Edin Hadzic, New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The French philosophe's ebullient, incredibly productive years in exile, admirably drawn by the London Financial Times' former foreign-affairs columnist. Louis XV was not interested in inviting Voltaire back into the Versailles fold when, in 1753, the writer sought to return from Potsdam. So this leading member of the Enlightenment, ever to be an individualist and outsider, settled in Geneva, where he promptly garnered the Calvinist establishment's censure. Drawing on what he calls Voltaire's "meta-autobiography," a luxurious 15,000 letters collected by his executors from across Europe, Davidson above all traces his subject's moral development. During these years, the writer crusaded against "superstition, theological repression, Jesuits, monks, fanatical regicides, and the Inquisition in every shape." He wrote the skewering Candide. He became a landowner and gained a measure of appreciation for the everyday suffering of the toilers in his fields at Ferney. Davidson ably tenders the push-pull of Voltaire's convictions: he campaigned against miscarriages of justice, particularly as they pertained to Christian fanaticism and the repressive alliance between church and state, but he was anti-Semitic and accepted the need for capital punishment and torture. Often seen as a philosophical forerunner of the French Revolution, in fact he condemned the popular voice ("which is almost always absurd") and firmly believed in the rights and responsibilities of a quasi-feudal order. Overriding these fissures, however, is Voltaire's sense of tolerance, his witty brevity in writing for the common man, and his willingness to poke a finger in the eye of powermongers. Davidson imbues the Frenchman's life with the warmth of his personality, detailing his relationship with Mme. Denis, his love of wine and food, and his ongoing affection for the theater, his gardens, and his multitude of acquaintances. A well-tempered work from whose pages Voltaire gracefully and realistically rises: wiser, more caring and generous, always eloquent as the years gain upon him. (8 pp. b&w illustrations, not seen) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.