Voltaire's overwhelming and lasting influence is the result of the spectacular success of his political novel, Candide, known since its publication as a brilliant satire not just of the philosopher Leibniz, but of European pretensions on a grand scale. Candide, the most famous of the eighteenth-century contes philosophiques (philosophical stories), is often readers' favorite (or least favorite) work of fiction of all time. Candide was published, anonymously, in 1759; at this time, all books in France had to be passed by the censors before publication, and the censors would certainly not have passed Candide. However, in contrast, Candide was not conservative in any respect, rather it parodies the romantic genre so popular over the centuries. Using the religious imagery of resurrection, Candide puts forward a secular attack on the belief in the biblical resurrection of Christ simply by having so many flawed human characters in the story repeatedly resurrected.