For Voltaire and his century

To the knowledge of Louis XIV, better read Saint-Simon or the Princess Palatine. Voltaire's book is especially interesting for its style, for what it reveals about Voltaire and, through him, of his time.

The style is that of the conversation, hopping, full of cock-and-bull stories and digressions, reasoning based on probability. It avoids the exact word when it would be too raw: the anus and Louis XIV is it called "Last of the intestines," which is ingenious and somewhat ridiculous. Voltaire is in a living room: because it shines and seduces.

His universe is the "fashionable". He is wary of the people, peasants, ordinary soldiers, too coarse for its taste and should be taken firmly in check. He does not like the Protestants, he considers too disputants, Democrats too.

He appreciates the absolute monarch Louis XIV avoiding excesses, law guarantees without which there could not be any clever conversation quiet, in the elegant lounges.