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The Age of Voltaire: A History of Civlization in Western Europe from 1715 to 1756

The Age of Voltaire: A History of Civlization in Western Europe from 1715 to 1756

The Age of Voltaire, the ninth volume of The Story of Civilization, is an in-depth examination of France and England in the first half of the eighteenth century. In this masterful work, listeners will encounter the English ideas that inspired the Enlightenment in France; the salons of Paris, where the wits and thinkers of all Europe gathered to exchange ideas; the philosophes - intellectuals and artists who consulted with kings and queens; Voltaire himself, the incarnation of the Enlightenment; Mme. Pompadour, who seduced Louis XV and through him influenced French policy; the Augustan Age in English literature; and the growing parasitism of the aristocracy and rising power of the commercial class.

PROLOGUE

Chapter I. FRANCE: THE REGENCY: 1715–23

I. The Young Voltaire

II. The Struggle for the Regency

III. Boom and Crash

IV. The Regent

V. Society Under the Regency

VI. Watteau and the Arts

VII. Authors

VIII. The Incredible Cardinal

IX. Voltaire and the Bastille

BOOK I: ENGLAND: 1714–56

Chapter II. THE PEOPLE

I. Prelude to the Industrial Revolution

II. Aspects of London

III. Schools

IV. Morals

V. Crime and Punishment

VI. Manners

VII. Chesterfield

Chapter III. THE RULERS

I. George I

II. George II and Queen Caroline

III. Robert Walpole

IV. Bolingbroke

V. How to Get into a War

VI. Ireland

VII. Scotland

VIII. Bonnie Prince Charlie

IX. The Rise of William Pitt

Chapter IV. RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

I. The Religious Situation

II. The Deistic Challenge

III. The Religious Rebuttal

IV. John Wesley

V. Of Bees and Men

VI. David Hume

Chapter V. LITERATURE AND THE STAGE

I. The Realm of Ink

II. Alexander Pope

III. The Voices of Feeling

IV. The Stage

V. The Novel

VI. Lady Mary

Chapter VI. ART AND MUSIC

I. The Artists

II. William Hogarth

III. The Musicians

IV. Handel

V. Voltaire in England

BOOK II: FRANCE: 1723–56

Chapter VII. THE PEOPLE AND THE STATE

I. The Nobility

II. The Clergy

III. The Third Estate

IV. The Government

V. Louis XV

VI. Mme. de Pompadour

Chapter VIII. MORALS AND MANNERS

I. Education

II. Morals

III. Manners

IV. Music

V. The Salons

Chapter IX. THE WORSHIP OF BEAUTY

I. The Triumph of Rococo

II. Architecture

III. Sculpture

IV. Painting

Chapter X. THE PLAY OF THE MIND

I. The Word Industry

II. The Stage

III. The French Novel

IV. Minor Sages

V. Montesquieu

Chapter XI. VOLTAIRE IN FRANCE: 1729–50

I. In Paris: 1729–34

II. Letters on the English

III. Idyl in Cirey: 1734–44

IV. The Courtier: 1745–48

V. Liebestod

VI. Mme. Denis

BOOK III: MIDDLE EUROPE: 1713–56

Chapter XII. THE GERMANY OF BACH

I. The German Scene

II. German Life

III. German Art

IV. German Music

V. Johann Sebastian Bach

Chapter XIII. FREDERICK THE GREAT AND MARIA THERESA

I. Imperial Prelude

II. Prussian Prelude

III. The New Machiavelli

IV. The War of the Austrian Succession

V. Frederick at Home: 1745–50

VI. Voltaire in Germany: 1750–54

Chapter XIV. SWITZERLAND AND VOLTAIRE

I. Les Délices

II. The Cantons

III. Geneva

IV. The New History

BOOK IV: THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING: 1715–89

Chapter XV. THE SCHOLARS

I. The Intellectual Environment

II. The Scholarly Revelation

Chapter XVI. THE SCIENTIFIC ADVANCE

I. The Expanding Quest

II. Mathematics

III. Physics

IV. Chemistry

V. Astronomy

VI. About the Earth

VII. Botany

VIII. Zoology

IX. Psychology

X. The Impact of Science upon Civilization

Chapter XVII. MEDICINE

I. Anatomy and Physiology

II. The Ingenuity of Disease

III. Treatment

IV. Specialists

V. Surgery

VI. The Physicians

BOOK V: THE ATTACK UPON CHRISTIANITY: 1730–74

Chapter XVIII. THE ATHEISTS: 1730–51

I. The Philosophic Ecstasy

II. The Background of Revolt

III. Jean Meslier

IV. Is Man a Machine?

Chapter XIX. DIDEROT AND THE Encyclopédie: 1713–68

I. Shiftless Years

II. The Blind, the Deaf, and the Dumb

III. History of a Book

IV. The Encyclopédie Itself

Chapter XX. DIDEROT PROTEUS: 1758–73

I. The Pantheist

II. The Dream of d’Alembert

III. Diderot on Christianity

IV. The Nephew of Rameau

V. Ethics and Politics

VI. Diderot on Art

VII. Diderot and the Theater

VIII. Diderot

Chapter XXI. THE SPREADING CAMPAIGN: 1758–74

I. Helvétius

II. Auxiliaries

III. D’Holbach

Chapter XXII. VOLTAIRE AND CHRISTIANITY: 1734–78

I. Voltaire and God

II. Voltaire and the Encyclopédie

III. The Theology of Earthquakes

IV. Candide

V. The Conscience of Europe

VI. Écrasez l’infâme!

VII. Religion and Reason

VIII. Voltaire Bigot

Chapter XXIII. THE TRIUMPH OF THE Philosophes: 1715–89

I. The Clergy Fights Back

II. The Antiphilosophes

III. The Fall of the Jesuits

IV. Education and Progress

V. The New Morality

VI. Religion in Retreat

VII. Summing Up

EPILOGUE IN ELYSIUM

Photographs

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE