This Focus student edition of Candide, Voltaire’s picaresque 1759 novel and masterpiece of French satire, follows a naive young man on his disillusioning journey through life. Candide’s fantastical adventures incorporate many actual historical events, such as the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and the Seven Years’ War, as Voltaire parodies religion, governments, the military, and the philosophy of good and evil. Extensive introduction, French text, notes and discussion questions.