Annals of the Empire


Annals of the Empire is a history of Germany written by the French philosopher and author Voltaire in 1753. It is largely compiled from previous work by German historians: Voltaire described his role as like an architect, assembling a building from individual pieces of masonry.

Quotation

The Annals are the source of Voltaire's much-quoted statement about the Holy Roman Empire:
This agglomeration which was called, and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire is in no respect either holy, Roman or an empire.