This carefully curated anthology brings together a broad selection of timeless works in one digital edition. Readers can discover essential voices, memorable stories and enduring ideas across a rich variety of literary styles. Prepared for comfortable continuous reading, this collection is ideal for exploring classic literature or returning to lasting favorites.

This carefully curated anthology brings together a broad selection of timeless works in one digital edition. Readers can discover essential voices, memorable stories and enduring ideas across a rich variety of literary styles. Prepared for comfortable continuous reading, this collection is ideal for exploring classic literature or returning to lasting favorites.

A young man raised to believe this is the best of all possible worlds is thrown out of the castle and spends the book being flogged, shipwrecked, robbed and hanged across three continents to test the theory. Voltaire wrote it in three days, published it under a false name in five cities at once, and denied authorship for the rest of his life. It was banned almost everywhere and never out of print. Zadig, the earlier tale of a Babylonian sage whose good sense brings him nothing but trouble,...

Compiled and Edited by Charles W. Eliot LL D in 1909, the Harvard Classics is a 51-volume Anthology of classic literature from throughout the history of western civilization. The set is sometimes called "Eliot's Five-Foot Shelf." This e-book is all 51 volumes, the equivalent of over 20,000 printed pages in one e-book. It is fully searchable with a completely linked table of contents.

Candide or Optimism was written by Voltaire and first published in 1759. Political satire doesn't age well, but occasionally a diatribe contains enough art and universal mirth to survive long after its timeliness has passed. Candide is such a book. Penned by that Renaissance man of the Enlightenment, Voltaire, Candide is steeped in the political and philosophical controversies of the 1750s. But for the general reader, the novel's driving principle is clear enough: the idea (endemic in Volt...

Candide is the story of a gentle man who, though pummeled and slapped in every direction by fate, clings desperately to the belief that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds." On the surface a witty, bantering tale, this eighteenth-century classic is actually a savage, satiric thrust at the philosophical optimism that proclaims that all disaster and human suffering is part of a benevolent cosmic plan. Fast, funny, often outrageous, the French philosopher's immortal narrative takes C...

Includes the prologue “If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?” by the editor.This book, newly updated, contains now several HTML tables of contents that will make reading a real pleasure!"Candide" is an accessible masterpiece which demonstrated to the world Volatire's genius as a satirist. The eponymous Candide is a young man tutored by an optimist who is convinced according to the cause and effect philosophy of L...

Micromegas is an inhabitant of the star Sirius, 120,000 feet tall and accompanied by a dwarf from Saturn who is 6000 feet tall. During a grand tour of the universe they visit Earth in 1737 and, using makeshift microscopes, they detect a boating party of tiny human philosophers.

This powerful collection brings together Voltaire's most incisive essays, arguments, and poems in a sustained attack on fanaticism, injustice, and religious intolerance. Centered on the famous Calas case, it exposes how rumor, sectarian hatred, and biased authority can turn tragedy into persecution, while Voltaire's sharp prose defends toleration, liberty of thought, and the human cost of dogma. The volume also includes searching reflections on how Scripture should be read—with charity, co...

Candide: or, All for the Best, The Optimist or Optimism begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism (or simply "optimism") by his mentor, Professor Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow, painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes with Candide, if not rejecting optimism outright, ad...

We live in an era rife with cultural conflict. The 21st century is by no means free of wars, terrorism, riots, famine, nor epidemics. We may attempt to solve the challenges of our times by uniting the humanistic disciplines of philosophy, science, and technology. Our modern reality requires a fundamental understanding of the problems beleaguering our existence. Science and literature are key tools for gaining this insight. The wisdom accumulated throughout the centuries by scientists, phil...

The story revolves around the travels of two giants from outer space, Micromegas and his companion, from the star Sirius, who visit Earth. Despite being giants, they are portrayed as highly intelligent and advanced beings. The title character, Micromegas, is over 20,000 feet tall, and his companion is only slightly smaller. They encounter Earth and its inhabitants, including humans, whom they find to be incredibly small in comparison.Through their observations and interactions with humans,...