Carlyle attended Edinburgh University to study mathematics, although he'd been destined for the church. He never lost his piety but could not accept the biblical foundations of Christianity. He became a schoolmaster and then author and married in 1826. It was to be a stormy relationship due to Carlyle's fiery temper and her quick wit and vitriolic tongue, but they remained close till the end of their lives.

In 1828 the Carlyles moved to a moorland farmhouse where for six years Carlyle produced a large number of books (including essays on Burns, Voltaire and Boswell's Life of Johnson) and developed his literary style. They moved to London where Carlyle began one of his greatest works- "The French Revolution". He didn't earn much while working on the volume, and even after publication, it did not earn him much initially. But a series of lectures, organized by friends, diverted him from the idea of seeking his fortune in America. His next great work, researched with the same level of minute detail, was on the letters and speeches of Oliver Cromwell, published in 1845.

A number of other books followed before he embarked on a history of Frederick the Great - a project which was to take him 14 years, published in many volumes between 1858 and 1865.

Carlyle's works were not just well researched histories but full of comment and fierce in their criticism of anything he found stupid or a sham or hypocritical. His philosophical writings were always regarded as stimulating and he cried out against tradition and convention - and this in the age of Queen Victoria.