BLAME for the length of this volumemust rest with authorsfascinated to exuberant prolixity by the central theme—thatpervasive and continuing conflict between religion and science-plusphilosophywhich became a living drama in the eighteenth century,and which has resulted in the secret secularism of our times. Howdid it come about that a major part of the educated classes in Europeand America has lost faith in the theology that for fifteen centuriesgave supernatural sanctions and supports to the precarious anduncongenial moral code upon which Western civilization has beenbased? What will be the effects—in morals, literature, and politics—of this silent but fundamental transformation?The scale of treatment in each volume has grown with theincreasing number of past events and personalities still alive in theirinfluence and interest today. This and the multiplicity of topics—allaspects of civilization in Western Europe from 1715 to 1756—mayoffer some excuse for the proliferation of the tale. So The Age ofVoltaire has burst its seams, and spills over into a contemplated PartX, Rousseau and Revolution, which will carry the story to 1789.----------