Voltaire in Love is Nancy Mitford’s most searching book. On the surface it is all polish and wit; underneath it is solid history. Triangle Squared. When François Marie Arouet (Voltaire ...

In reality, “Optimism” is Candide’s subtitle, and it’s the first hint that Voltaire is putting the reader on.He was reacting with wry, winking irony to the prevailing 18th-century European ...