Legends of The Enlightenment cover art

Legends of The Enlightenment

The Life and Legacy of Voltaire

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Legends of The Enlightenment

By: Charles River Editors
Narrated by: Mark Linsenmayer
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £6.99

Buy Now for £6.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

"To hold a pen is to be at war." - Voltaire

"All men are equal; it is not their birth, but virtue itself that makes the difference." - Voltaire

The grand narrative of the Enlightenment, usually recounted and understood in terms of progress and modernity, generally appears as a simplified evolution from the trappings of superstition, feudalism, and everything "irrational" to a world more similar to today's world. Alongside the Renaissance, the Enlightenment is credited for the transition to an adherence to reason, secularism, and promotion of values such as individual and collective freedom and liberty. At the heart of the movement in France was François-Marie Arouet, better known by the pen name Voltaire, whose voluminous writings advocated for greater liberalism, including the freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. In addition to the classic Candide, Voltaire was a biting polemic whose satirical attacks on the Catholic Church were among the fiercest of his day. He also understood the risks he was taking with these writings, at one point explaining, "It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong."

The Enlightenment is looked upon fondly, and it serves to reinforce the notion that the present is superior to the past, but things did not change as rapidly or as completely as many believe. In fact, some recent historians have challenged the belief that the Enlightenment was responsible for the French Revolution, which is a vital issue when it comes to Voltaire. After all, Voltaire, as his contemporaries and as most of his modern listeners know him, is widely regarded as the pinnacle of Enlightenment thought, the symbol of the era of reason, and the harbinger of modern values.

©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River Editors
Entertainment & Celebrities France Politicians Celebrity Witty French Revolution
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Martin Luther and John Calvin: Leaders of the Protestant Reformation cover art
Ghalib: The Man, the Times cover art
"Most Blessed of the Patriarchs" cover art
John Wycliffe cover art
Simply Dirac cover art
Voltaire cover art
The Stoics: Biographies of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, Cato, and Zeno cover art
Old Thunder cover art
The Man Who Invented Fiction cover art
Feminism cover art
Brutus cover art
The Road to Monticello cover art
Stories of Women in the Middle Ages cover art
Friends Divided cover art
Charles Darwin cover art
Anne Boleyn cover art

What listeners say about Legends of The Enlightenment

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 0 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 0 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.