The French author known as Voltaire was born in 1694 to a noble family in the province of Poitou. Voltaire was a writer of the Enlightenment movement and was well known in his own time for his attacks on the Catholic Church and for advocating freedom of religion and expression and the separation of church and state. Candide is widely regarded as his masterpiece, and is taught perhaps more often then any other piece of French literature. Published in 1759, it was widely banned immediately after its secretive publication because it contained blasphemy and seditious themes. This bilingual edition is designed to assist those learning French. The English text appears on the left-hand pages of the book, with the corresponding French on the right-hand pages. Other bilingual books available from Sleeping Cat Books: The Picture of Dorian Gray Selected Works of Edgar Allan Poe Fables of Jean de La Fontaine Shakespeare's Sonnets New Fairy Tales for Small Children The Count of Monte Cristo (Unabridged) The Tales of Mother Goose The Last of the Mohicans Madame Bovary