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"Based on a series of lectures delivered in 1840, Thomas Carlyle's On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History considers the creation of heroes and the ways they exert heroic leadership. From the divine and prophetic (Odin and Muhammad) to the poetic (Dante and Shakespeare) to the religious (Luther and Knox) to the political (Cromwell and Napoleon), Carlyle investigates the mysterious qualities that elevate humans to cultural significance. By situating the text in the context of six essays by distinguished scholars that reevaluate both Carlyle's work and his ideas, David Sorensen and Brent Kinser argue that Carlyle's concept of heroism stresses the hero's spiritual dimension. In Carlyle's engagement with various heroic personalities, he dislodges religiosity from religion, myth from history, and truth from "quackery" as he describes the wondrous ways in which these "flowing light-fountains" unlock the heroic potential of ordinary human beings."-- On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History -- 'The Tone of the Preacher': Carlyle as Public Lecturer in On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History / by Owen Dudley Edwards -- In Defense of 'Religiosity': Carlyle, Mahomet, and the Force of Faith in History / by David R. Sorensen -- 'The First of the Moderns': Carlyle's Goethe and the Consequences / by Terence James Reed -- Carlyle, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and the Hero as Victorian Poet / by Beverly Taylor -- 'Leading human souls to what is best': Carlyle, Ruskin, and Hero-Worship / by Sarah Atwood -- 'Wild Annandale Grapeshot': Carlyle, Scotland, and the Heroic / by Christopher Harvie -- Thomas Carlyle, Social Media, and the Digital Age of Revolution / by Brent E. Kinser
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