Thomas Carlyle

Born in Ecclefechan, Scotland, on 4 December 1795, Thomas Carlyle was raised in a strict religious household and studied at the University of Edinburgh. He first worked as a teacher and later turned fully to writing, building a reputation as an essayist, historian, translator, and social critic.

Carlyle is best known for books such as The French Revolution: A History, On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History, and The History of Friedrich II of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great. His writing is energetic, intense, and often argumentative, and it had a strong impact on Victorian readers interested in politics, history, religion, and moral questions.

He spent much of his adult life in London and was married to the writer Jane Welsh Carlyle. Though admired for his power as a prose stylist and commentator, he has also remained a debated figure because of some of his social and political views. He died in 1881, but his books still stand out for their force, originality, and ambition.