Letters Concerning The English Nation — Voltaire

Inspired by Voltaires two year stay in England 1726 8 this is one of the key works of the Enlightment Exactly contemporary with Gullivers Travels and The Beggars Opera Voltaires controversial pronouncements on politics philosophy religion and literature have place the Letters among the great Augustan satires Voltaire wrote most of the book in English in which he was fluent and witty and it fast became a bestseller in Britain He re wrote it in French as the Lettres philosophiques and current editions in English translate his French This edition restores for the modern reader Voltaires own English text allowing us to appreciate him as a stylist at first hand It is the only critical edition of the original text and as well as providing an introduction and notes it includes intriguing accounts of Voltaire by contemporary English ovservers