Having ordered the book in preparation to my visit to Voltaire-Ferney, the not so best of all worlds in the form of an Icelandic volcano prevented it from arriving in time. Freshly charged with memories of the place, it was a wonderful read. Normally, one would say that a biography devoted to the twilight years of a person would be boring. With Voltaire, the opposite is true. Most of what we remember him for, happened when he was an old man (Candide, social advocacy of justice). Voltaire is an excellent subject for a biographer because he was an incessant, witty and candid letter writer. An egomaniac and hypochondriac, today, he would certainly have his own reality TV show.

Voltaire was filthy rich, a private banker to the lesser princes of Germany. He built his dream palace, including a private theater, demolished and reconstructed the parish church (including the grandiose inscription "Deo erexit VOLTAIRE"). While he showed elements of modernity and free spirit, he had a decidedly conservative and monarchical bent. He acquired a title and loved to be among princes and kings. His place in the Pantheon was due to both a misappropriation by and a misunderstanding of the French revolutionaries. While Voltaire sought justice, he never wanted equality. He was a member of the elite. He cared for his people in Ferney in a paternalistic way in setting up a profitable watchmaking industry (Voltaire was a gifted business and marketing man promoting and selling his watches abroad).

Voltaire's exile at Europe’s crossroads in Ferney, both in and out of France (as it was in Savoy), was time well spent. He would probably have wasted his time with distractions and died early in unhealthy Paris. Thus, in hindsight, the exile was a blessing to him and to us, for this great biography brings the man to life again. Highly recommended. ( )

Ian Davidson, a former foreign affairs reporter at the Financial Times, shows how Voltaire's last 25 years were perhaps his most interesting. He retired at rural Ferney & spent his enormous fortune improving that village, vastly augmenting its agricultural & early industrial activity. He also fought a spectacular battle against one legal miscarriage after another - all while remaining supreme arbiter & authority on all things Enlightenment in Europe. ( )