Exemplary ... enough blood on the pages to make sure that we are kept enthralled
Prospect
Marvellous stuff and an indication of the perennially absorbing nature of the revolution. Davidson's book is a worthy addition to the canon.
Spectator
Terse, tightly written ... allows certain critical aspects of the Revolution to stand out in a way that doesn't usually happen.
- David Aaronovitch, The Times
On page after page, there are jolts and surprises, reminders and revelations. ... Lively, engaging ... a compelling single-volume history for the general reader. Recommended.
Irish Examiner
Written with authority, clarity and journalistic immediacy
The Catholic Herald
Praise for Voltaire: A Life
A compelling read ... an insightful and entertaining picture of the man
Guardian
Davidson is a fastidious debunker of myths and restorer of balance. He tells his story from beginning to end, one year after the next, with an elegant lucidity
- Sam Leith, Spectator
There is no shortage of biographies of Voltaire ... but this is one of the best of them.
- Andrew Hussey, Financial Times
Written in the crisp, incisive prose of a practised journalist... his research is impressive ... [a] refreshing book which isn't afraid, occasionally, to draw its own conclusions against the grain of what has been written before
Independent on Sunday
Splendidly readable ... This is an entertaining and enlightening account of why Voltaire still matters
- Bee Wilson, Sunday Times
Voltaire can be a rather daunting figure, but emerges in very human colours in this excellent biography, which makes splendid use of the philosopher's letters
Sunday Telegraph