Voltaire "Candide, or Optimism"

Voltaire’s most renowned work, "Candide," is a philosophical novella presented as an adventure tale with satirical content. It was likely written in 1758 and published a year later. The disastrous trials and wanderings of the book’s protagonists, their journey around the world, and even their visit to the mythical land of Eldorado provide the author numerous opportunities to portray, in a spirit of absurdity and grotesque, and sharply satirize authority, military affairs, theology, art, metaphysics, and especially philosopher Leibniz’s optimistic views about this being the best of all possible worlds.