This Norton Critical Edition includes:

• Robert M. Adams's translation, which renders French intent in English idiom, preserving the novella's provocative humor, accompanied by explanatory annotations for a contemporary audience.
• An introduction by Nicholas Cronk, about Candide's themes and relationship to Enlightenment values.
• A rich "Backgrounds" section, newly featuring excerpts from the influential essays of Alexander Pope and John Locke, and including an article by Gillian Pink, written for this edition, about Candide's composition.
• Critical essays exploring Candide's style, genre, satire, and position in the globally commercial and colonial 18th century.
• An updated selected bibliography and, for the first time, a chronology of Voltaire's life and times.