Philosophical Letters on the English: Letters Regarding the English Nation

Philosophical Letters on the English is a series of essays written by Voltaire based on his experiences living in Great Britain between 1726 and 1729. It was published first in English in 1733. When published in France (1731) it was seen as an attack on the French system of government and was rapidly suppressed. In some ways, the book can be compared with Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville, in how it flatteringly explains a nation to itself from the perspective of an outsider, as Voltaire's depictions of aspects of English culture, society and government are often given favourable treatment in comparison to their French equivalents.