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Rating: 
Summary: MITFORD-IZED !!!
Review: A real 'Talent To Annoy' Nancy Mitford brings to light a Voltaire that the classic historian normally omits. However, it is to her credit that she superbly presents a view of history thru a man and an era of events in a real sense of humanist expression. Ms. Mitford's social perception of Voltaire is unequaled ! Her attention to detail and it's colourization is incrediable, although perhaps not entirely historically accurate, but why complain at all....especially when her very style of writing just entraces the reader in such a manner that one shall want to read and reread as much as possible any book by Nancy, or for that matter any written work by any of the fascinating Mitford sisters....!
Rating:
Summary: Solid biographies::the love story is the backdrop
Review: I couldn't put this book down, and tore through it in a matter of days. Despite being a voracious reader, it's (sadly) seldom that such a book comes along for me. The main draw for me in purchasing this book is being an avid fan of Voltaire. I had wondered just how strongly the "love story" element of the book would play out, as I'd known prior to purchasing this book that all of the intimate correspondence between Voltaire and Emilie has been lost. I'm not a "love story" kind of person, and was hoping this book would provide more of a strong picture into the personalities, foibles, strengths, habits, and routines of Voltaire primarily, and Emilie secondarily. I was not disappointed.If you count yourself a lover of Voltaire -- the man and his writings -- then this book is truly a must-read for you. I've read much of his essays, philosophy, short stories, et cetera, and finally (to my immense delight) feel I "know" the man. The personalities and temperaments of both Voltaire and Emilie were rather as I'd figured they would be, although there were a couple of genuine surprises -- some flattering, some not so flattering. What continues to make me curious is how these two persons defined the word "love"...the dynamics of their relationship and love was interesting, and sometimes confusing, to say the very least. Ah well, I'm speaking of dead persons here. Respect for their personages and for the deceased prohibit me from going further. And besides, after nine years of marriage, I too admit the word "love" has a myriad of nuances. Please enjoy this book! Ecrasez l'infame!
Rating:
Summary: Solid biographies::the love story is the backdrop
Review: I couldn't put this book down, and tore through it in a matter of days. Despite being a voracious reader, it's (sadly) seldom that such a book comes along for me. The main draw for me in purchasing this book is being an avid fan of Voltaire. I had wondered just how strongly the "love story" element of the book would play out, as I'd known prior to purchasing this book that all of the intimate correspondence between Voltaire and Emilie has been lost. I'm not a "love story" kind of person, and was hoping this book would provide more of a strong picture into the personalities, foibles, strengths, habits, and routines of Voltaire primarily, and Emilie secondarily. I was not disappointed. If you count yourself a lover of Voltaire -- the man and his writings -- then this book is truly a must-read for you. I've read much of his essays, philosophy, short stories, et cetera, and finally (to my immense delight) feel I "know" the man. The personalities and temperaments of both Voltaire and Emilie were rather as I'd figured they would be, although there were a couple of genuine surprises -- some flattering, some not so flattering. What continues to make me curious is how these two persons defined the word "love"...the dynamics of their relationship and love was interesting, and sometimes confusing, to say the very least. Ah well, I'm speaking of dead persons here. Respect for their personages and for the deceased prohibit me from going further. And besides, after nine years of marriage, I too admit the word "love" has a myriad of nuances. Please enjoy this book! Ecrasez l'infame!
Rating:
Summary: a must for scholars
Review: I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the literature and history of an absolutely fascinating time period, the eighteenth century. This work is especially interesting not only, of course, to those who study the life and writings of Voltaire, but also to those, like myself, who study the life of Frederick the Great of Prussia. As usual, Mitford's writing style is intriguing and the reader is provided with unforgettable and very human portrayals of the principals. This book is a real "must" for any student of both literature and history. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Voltaire is so Adorable, Do Admit!
Review: Nancy Mitford is not the author to look to if you like your history full of facts and wars and power politics. Nancy Mitford takes a difference approach, one more concerned with how simply delightful things (especially French things) were before that really vulgar revolution took all the fun out of being an aristocrat. She sees Voltaire as not only the pre-eminent humanist philosopher and writer of his time, but also as a sentimental fool who just could not help but run off with the lovely, but rather too intellectual Marquise de Chatelet. They kept getting into all sorts of elegant French trouble with the censors and the court, all the while being dreadfully brilliant about the whole state of the world. Delicious scamps! Miss Mitford's historic accuracy is not in question, nor are her skills as a writer or biographer. But she is more of a gossip than not, and is certainly more of an unmitigated snob about the French aristocracy than some down-to-earth readers might like. I for one adore this cosy, catty biography, and find it a welcome anecdote to the tons of weighty tomes on Voltaire and his endless epistolary relationships. Miss Mitford writes pastry -- light, airy and fluffy and yummy. She lets the others serve up full-course histories, heavy, balanced, probably good for you, but so often bland as oatmeal as just as charming.
Rating:
Summary: The Candid Voltaire
Review: Nancy Mitford was a brilliant writer, and the bedrock of virtually all her works - even the histories - was satire. And, true to the first law of all satirists, she takes no prisoners, even in dealing with such luminaries as Voltaire and his lover, Mme du Chatelet. From the very start, for instance, she tells us that Voltaire rarely had any original thoughts: his true genius was in his turn of phrase. In fact, to Mme du Chatelet's great embarassment, he was likely impotent, was virtually banished from Versailles, flirted outrageously with the openly gay King Frederick of Prussia and, later, developed an infatuation for his own niece. Mme du Chatelet does rather better in Mitford's estimation - she is portrayed as a gifted scientist and an independently important literary figure - but as a lover, she too is deeply flawed. Time and again, she drove Voltaire close to bankruptcy with her gambling debts. And her premature death was brought on by childbirth - not Voltaire's baby, mind, but those of her "toy boy" lover. Yet it is clear that, for all that, she had met in Voltaire her true life partner, and within their own adulterous union, they tolerated each other's infidelities with good grace. A classic chronicle of human foibles by an author who is utterly unintimidated by her biographical subjects.
Rating:
Summary: The Candid Voltaire
Review: Nancy Mitford was a brilliant writer, and the bedrock of virtually all her works - even the histories - was satire. And, true to the first law of all satirists, she takes no prisoners, even in dealing with such luminaries as Voltaire and his lover, Mme du Chatelet. From the very start, for instance, she tells us that Voltaire rarely had any original thoughts: his true genius was in his turn of phrase. In fact, to Mme du Chatelet's great embarassment, he was likely impotent, was virtually banished from Versailles, flirted outrageously with the openly gay King Frederick of Prussia and, later, developed an infatuation for his own niece. Mme du Chatelet does rather better in Mitford's estimation - she is portrayed as a gifted scientist and an independently important literary figure - but as a lover, she too is deeply flawed. Time and again, she drove Voltaire close to bankruptcy with her gambling debts. And her premature death was brought on by childbirth - not Voltaire's baby, mind, but those of her "toy boy" lover. Yet it is clear that, for all that, she had met in Voltaire her true life partner, and within their own adulterous union, they tolerated each other's infidelities with good grace. A classic chronicle of human foibles by an author who is utterly unintimidated by her biographical subjects.
Rating:
Summary: This is the book that hooked me--and inspired my book
Review: When I set out to write a book, "A Visit From Voltaire" imagining the return of Voltaire to the 21st century, this is the book that hooked me before I moved into the primary sources. And it remains one of the best books to date, despite a few little hitches in her facts, for readability, entertainment and capturing the spirit of Voltaire's middle years. Anybody who reads it will finish with a wonderful understanding of the man's energy, resilience and courage. A must.
Dinah Lee Küng
Rating: 
Summary: dissapointing
Review: When I set out to write a book, "A Visit From Voltaire" imagining the return of Voltaire to the 21st century, this is the book that hooked me before I moved into the primary sources. And it remains one of the best books to date, despite a few little hitches in her facts, for readability, entertainment and capturing the spirit of Voltaire's middle years. Anybody who reads it will finish with a wonderful understanding of the man's energy, resilience and courage. A must.
Dinah Lee Küng
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