Best known for his most popular book, On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History (1841), Carlyle believed society was best served by a strong, just dictator or hero in control. Born in Ecclefechan in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, Carlyle entered Edinburgh University at the age of 15. He studied German and later published the Life of Schiller (1823-24) and a translation of Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship (1824). Popular success came when he published the first volume of The French Revolution . (1837). His views of the hero were reiterated in his book, Oliver Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches and Latter-Day Pamphlets (1845). In 1858 he published History of Frederick the Great .
