Voltaire’s Candide is political satire that has endured for centuries. Required reading in many high school AP courses and college English courses, Candide tells the story of a starry-eyed young man who struggles to reunite with his lost love. Eschewing mysitcal optimism for a more philosophy, Candide and his companions finally retire together, embracing a simple life on a small farm.Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes

Political satire doesn’t age well, but occasionally a diatribe contains enough art and universal mirth to survive long after its timeliness has passed. Candide is such a book. Penned by that Renaissance man of the Enlightenment, Voltaire, Candide is steeped in the political and philosophical controversies of the 1750s. But for the general reader, the novel’s driving principle is clear enough: the idea (endemic in Voltaire’s day) that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and apparent folly, misery and strife are actually harbingers of a greater good we cannot perceive, is hogwash.