Lytton Strachey's classic work Eminent Victorians was an assault on the Victorian age and its values. In choosing four key figures, Cardinal Manning, Dr Arnold of Rugby, Florence Nightingale and General Gordon, Strachey conducted a masterly hatchet job on four key representatives of their age. His book was an instant bestseller and has been in print ever since. But now the mood has changed. Victorian studies are booming. Scholars are looking again at the Victorian age and are reassessing some of its more notable figures. The text of Eminent Victorians is printed here in its integrity with new critical afterwords by scholars, demonstrating how lopsided was Strachey's judgement and representing his subjects in fresh light.