The first two volumes of the Correspondance générale d'Helvétius inspired international acclaim. Now the third volume offers us further insight into a variety of aspects of life in eighteenth-century France.

Claude-Adrian Helvétius (1715-71) was a wealthy and high-ranking member of French society. He was acquainted with the leading political and social figures of his time and, through family, with the court and government which he occasionally served in a diplomatic capacity. Philosopher, encyclopedist, and author of the explosive De l'Esprit, he and his wife, Anne Catherine de Ligneville, corresponded with the great and influential throughout Europe.

The letters in this volume were written between 1761 and 1774, a period in which Helvétius enjoyed the fruits of his fame, travelled to England (1764) and Prussia (1765), and produced two books, Le Bonheur and De l'homme, which were published after his death.

Claude Adrien Helvétius (1715-1771) was a French philosopher, freemason, and littérateur.

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David Smith, author of the British best-seller Free Lunch, is economics editor of The Sunday Times and an economic adviser to Rupert Murdoch. He is a familiar voice on British radio and television, commentating on economic matters.

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Peter Allan is a professor of French at Mount Allison University.

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Alan Dainard is a professor of French at University of Toronto

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Marie-Thérèse Inguenaud is a professor of French at the University of Paris VII

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Jean Orsoni is a professor of French at the University of Quebec at Trois-Riv�res.

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