Thomas Carlyle

What trait defines a hero? For Carlyle, it's absolute sincerity, firm belief in one's principles, and an inherent spark of the Divine. In this compelling series of lectures, delivered in 1840, Carlyle uses various examples of great men throughout history-divided into six categories and including Dante, Odin, Luther, and Napoleon, among others-to convey his notion of a hero.

The French Revolution: A History was, written by the Scottish essayist, philosopher, and historian Thomas Carlyle. The three-volume work, first published in 1837 (with a revised edition in print by 1857), charts the course of the French Revolution from 1789 to the height of the Reign of Terror (1793—94) and culminates in 1795. A massive undertaking, which draws together a wide variety of sources, Carlyle's history-despite the unusual style in which...

Excerpt: "Considering our present advanced state of culture, and how the Torch of Science has now been brandished and borne about, with more, or less effect, for five thousand years and upwards; how, in these times especially, not only the Torch still burns, and perhaps more fiercely than ever, but innumerable Rushlights, and Sulphur-matches, kindled thereat, are also glancing in every direction, so that not the smallest cranny or dog-hole in Nature...