Thomas Carlyle
Scottish essayist and historian who dominated Victorian intellectual life with his turbulent, apocalyptic prose. Sartor Resartus and The French Revolution established a new mode of polemical history. His later celebration of Great Men and his hostility to democracy made him increasingly controversial.
Works
- Sartor ResartusPhilosophical and satirical meditation on clothing, identity, and cultural history
- The French RevolutionVivid narrative account of the French Revolution and its cataclysmic social upheaval
- On Heroes, Hero-WorshipEssays on the universal significance of heroic figures across history and society
- Past and PresentCritique of industrial society contrasting medieval organic community with modern malaise
- Frederick the GreatHistorical biography of Prussian king Frederick, exploring statecraft and military genius
- On Heroes and Hero-WorshipEssays exploring the role of heroes and hero-worship in shaping human civilization