We have previously looked at the life and legacy of Voltaire.  Please review this information elsewhere on this blog.  Letters on the English or Letters Concerning the English Nation is a series of essays written by Voltaire on his living in England between 1726 and 1729.  In essence, the purpose of these essays was to serve as a critique of the French system of government.  We have discussed this elsewhere in further detail.  The purpose of this blog entry is to provide the following reading and viewing excerpts in keeping with the tutorial format explained in one of the original posts on this series.

As we approach the end of a year of such study it is my hope that the material provided might give much food for thought not just for my two little girls at whom these posts are written but hopefully by others as well.   Our society as seemed to lose quite a bit of the literature and thoughts embodied in this series.  It is my hope that the posts I have provided here might help keep alive in some small part the study of this material by others with greater minds than mine.

You may read this portion of  Voltaire’s Letter’s On the English here:

http://www.bartleby.com/34/2/18.html

Will Durant’s look at the philosophy of Voltaire may be seen here: