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Nicholas Cronk's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books Nicholas Cronk recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Nicholas Cronk's favorite book recommendations of all time.

1
How was Voltaire's legacy seen in France between 1830 and 1900? To what extent did the nineteenth century reinvent Voltaire? Viewed during these years through the distorting lens of the French Revolution, Voltaire was vilified and venerated in roughly equal measure: as an icon of republican anticlericalism on the one hand, and a deeply Christian reformer on the other. This wide-ranging study uses the rich sources of the Parisian periodical and daily press to examine the evolution of Voltaire's legacy as it was contested through caricature and statuary as much as through editions and criticism... more
Recommended by Nicholas Cronk, and 1 others.

Nicholas CronkThis is the first really comprehensive study of the different phases in which Voltaire was reinvented and then celebrated after his death. (Source)

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2
Nothing is considered more natural than the connection between Isaac Newton’s science and the modernity that came into being during the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. Terms like “Newtonianism” are routinely taken as synonyms for “Enlightenment” and “modern” thought, yet the particular conjunction of these terms has a history full of accidents and contingencies. Modern physics, for example, was not the determined result of the rational unfolding of Newton’s scientific work in the eighteenth century, nor was the Enlightenment the natural and inevitable consequence of Newton’s... more
Recommended by Nicholas Cronk, and 1 others.

Nicholas CronkI think what J B Shank does is to give a much more nuanced understanding of how Voltaire is trying to make his career in that early period. It’s the most important new insight into Voltaire’s intellectual evolution to come out for the last generation. (Source)

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3

A Pocket Philosophical Dictionary

Here is the only available English translation of one of the landmarks of European Enlightenment thought, Voltaire's 1764 edition of A Pocket Philosophical Dictionary. Highly entertaining and still highly relevant, the "dictionary" actually consists of a sequence of short essays, arranged in alphabetical order, covering everything from Apocalypse and Atheism to Tolerance and Tyranny. The unifying thread of these articles is Voltaire's vitriolic critique of established religion: ridicule of established dogma, attacks on superstition, and pleas for toleration. Witty and ironic, this is... more
Recommended by Nicholas Cronk, and 1 others.

Nicholas CronkThis book is a series of short squibs on different topics all, broadly speaking, concerning the Bible and the history of the church, and all designed to make you reflect on what pious Catholics thought were absolute certainties. There’s an absurdist side to Voltaire’s humour that is very modern and completely speaks to us. (Source)

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4

Voltaire Almighty

With its tale of illegitimacy, prison, stardom, exile, love affairs and tireless battles against critic, priest and king, Roger Pearson's biography brings the father of Enlightenment to vivid life. less
Recommended by Nicholas Cronk, and 1 others.

Nicholas CronkI think it’s by far the best modern life of Voltaire. Given that Voltaire is self-invented, I think it’s smart not to treat him in an overly pious or serious way. I think Roger Pearson gets the underlying facetiousness of his subject and he perfectly captures the idea that Voltaire is always performing. (Source)

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5

Candide and Other Stories

Candide is the most famous of Voltaire's "philosophical tales," in which he combined witty improbabilities with the sanest of good sense. First published in 1759, it was an instant bestseller and has come to be regarded as one of the key texts of the Enlightenment. What Candide does for chivalric romance, the other tales in this selection--Micromegas, Zadig, The Ingenu, and The White Bull--do for science fiction, the Oriental tale, the sentimental novel, and the Old Testament. The most extensive one-volume selection currently available, this new edition... more

Ryan HolidayDr. Drew recommended Voltaire’s Candide, which I read on my wedding day, and found to be fantastic and educational. (Source)

Nicholas CronkVoltaire is a global writer because of Candide; it has been translated into every possible language, both western and eastern. It has a huge resonance and was a bestseller right from the minute it was published. (Source)

Gilles BernhardUtopias and dystopias are fictional genres I enjoy a lot. I could also mention Candide ou l'Optimisme by Voltaire as a book I appreciate a lot. (Source)

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