One hundred and fifty years ago Thomas Carlyle was the intellectual gadfly whom many disagreed with but everyone read. Statesmen, philosophers, novelists, historians-anyone wrestling with the most vexed issues of modern life-had to come to grips with his writings. For much of the nineteenth century Carlyle was a prophetic voice-strong, bullying, passionate, and convincing; able to rouse his contemporaries to action and reform. This book reassesses Carlyle for a new generation in no less serious circumstances. Long before the phrase "sub-prime mortgage" came into vogue, Thomas Carlyle spoke eloquently and prophetically against the Gospel of Mammonism. Moreover, he recognized the threats to community that accompany a modern liberal society. Readers can now rediscover a Carlyle who challenges an increasingly self-absorbed culture, rails against the excesses of capitalist greed, teaches "Captains of Industry" to embrace a new kind of leadership, restores a meaningful connection to the past, and draws our gaze to genuine heroism. He champions the dignity of work, has much to say to those who would be leaders, and appeals for corporate reform in the name of love and community.
The essays in this volume represent some of the most recent reconsiderations of the living legacy of Thomas Carlyle from both established and upcoming Carlyle scholars. Readers will have the opportunity to explore the richness of Carlyle's ideals, including the ones which challenge modern sensibilities the most. The essays examine carefully the complexities, difficulties, and contours of Carlyle's political and social vision. They also sample the breadth of Carlyle's thought, along with that of Jane Welsh Carlyle, his wife and fellow intellectual traveler, covering topics from political philosophy and cultural critique to education, historiography, biography, and the vagaries of editing.