-
See Our Best Book
Club Books of 2026!
by Voltaire
Young Candide is ejected from his idyllic life in a protected castle and finds himself encountering wild adventures and harsh trials that put to the test his teacher's claim that we live in the best of all possible worlds.
Honest and simple to a fault, Candide finds that a bit of romance leads only to exile and sudden immersion in a larger and more frightening world. Armed with the optimistic teachings of his mentor Pangloss, he is soon astounded to be arrested, beaten and forced into military service. The author doesn't spare his hero, hurling him into a shipwreck, an earthquake, a tidal wave and a city-wide wildfire in short order. Pursuing his true love and reunited with Pangloss, who interprets each new setback, no matter how horrific, as another sign that everything happens for the best, Candide refuses to abandon hope but begins to question his teacher's bottomless optimism. An outrageous picaresque quest full of barbed observations about human behavior and belief, politics and institutions, Candide was condemned for the fiercely irreverent stance it delicately conceals beneath its hero's guileless nature and chain of extravagant adventures. Triumphing over censorship, the book has had profound influence on philosophy and politics since its first appearance in 1759, but remains a classic that can be read for pure pleasure.
"Despite exile, imprisonment, and the suppression of almost every one of his books by the minions of church and state, (Voltaire) forged fiercely a path for his truth, until at last kings, popes and emperors catered to him, thrones trembled before him, and half the world listened to catch his every word." —Will Durant
This information about Candide (Mint Editions (Humorous and Satirical Narratives)) was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Voltaire was the pen name of François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778)a French philosopher and an author who was as prolific as he was influential. In books, pamphlets and plays, he startled, scandalized and inspired his age with savagely sharp satire that unsparingly attacked the most prominent institutions of his day, including royalty and the Roman Catholic Church. His fiery support of freedom of speech and religion, of the separation of church and state, and his intolerance for abuse of power can be seen as ahead of his time, but earned him repeated imprisonments and exile before they won him fame and adulation.
The Sister's Curse
by Nicola Solvinic
The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes
by Chanel Cleeton
The Vanishing Place
by Zoë Rankin
 (1).gif)
They say that in the end truth will triumph, but it's a lie.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
