History of Charles XII, King of Sweden

Voltaire's history of the tsar who dragged Russia into the modern age, written with access to Russian court archives. It covers the founding of Saint Petersburg, the war with Sweden and the reforms that remade an empire.

Voltaire

The first half of Voltaire's portrait of France under the Sun King, from the wars of Europe to the War of the Spanish Succession. A history of a whole civilization rather than a list of battles.

Voltaire

The second half of The Age of Louis XIV turns to life at court, government, trade, the arts and sciences, and the religious quarrels of the reign. The part where Voltaire invents the history of culture.

Voltaire