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  • The great Lisbon earthquake

    • June 1, 2019
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    • Category: Flashbacks
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      The Lisbon earthquake struck on November 1st (All Saints Day), 1755, and was one of the deadliest earthquakes in history. The subsequent fires and tsunami almost entirely destroyed the city and much of the surrounding area.  The horror and tragedy of the event provoked Voltaire to write his ‘Poem on the Lisbon disaster’, a
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  • The philosophy of Voltaire

    • February 9, 2019
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    • Category: Venice and Paris
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      Pretty good 26-minute lecture by Ryan Reeves on Voltaire and the Enlightenment here.   ‘Casanova in Paris: The Shadows of the King’ is freely available here. 27 long form articles on Casanova’s life and times are freely available here.   #paris #voltaire #eighteenthcentury #history #philosophy #enlightenment
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  • Casanova and Voltaire – part 4

    • August 11, 2018
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    • Category: Casanova
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    The fourth of four blogs on the relationship between Casanova and Voltaire. Overall, you do get the impression that in his account of their meeting at Les Délices Casanova had tried to give an honest and even-handed description of Voltaire, taking care to illustrate both his vices and virtues.  One of the aims of Histoire
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