I am not too familiar with the events that occurred in this book. It is set back in the times of kings and queens, barons, lords and other titles. The author, Voltaire, who was born Francios-Marie Arouet, was very critical and suspicious of government and officials. He used his writing talens to make fun of them or criticize abuses of the time. In the middle of the 18th century, Voltaire turned against the popular philosophy of “optimism” because of a tragic earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal, which killed 30,000 people and did mil ....