What I learned from reading Heroes: From Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to Churchill and de Gaulle by Paul Johnson.
America prepared the way for the cult of the entrepreneur.
In due course, the public applauded the outstanding steelmaker, Andrew Carnegie, and the oil man, John D.
Rockefeller.
This new kind of hero was controversial, and it is a fact that throughout history, one person's hero has been another's villain, not only in his own day, but later.
The heroes of America's emergence as the world's largest industrial power were clearly genuine in one sense, since Carnegie's cheap, high quality steel benefited everybody.
Rockefeller's slashing of the price of kerosene by 90% was a godsend.
And Ford's cheap, reliable model t ended the isolation of the farmer.
But to others, such men were robber barons, or, in the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, malefactors of great wealth.
People must agree to differ about heroes.
I have always had a soft spot for those who speak out against the conventional wisdom and who are not afraid to speak the truth, even if it puts them in a minority of one.
I think we appreciate heroism most if we have a tiny speck of it ourselves, which might be fanned into a flame if the wind of opportunity arose.
So how do we recognize the heroes and heroines of today?
I would distinguish four principal first, by absolute independence of mind, which springs from the ability to think everything through for yourself and to treat whatever is the current consensus on any issue with skepticism.
Second, having made up your mind independently to act resolutely and consistently.
Third, to ignore or reject everything the media throws at you, provided you remain convinced you are doing right.
Finally, to act with personal courage at all times, regardless of the consequences to yourself.
All history teaches that there is no substitute for courage.
It is the noblest and best of all qualities, and the one indispensable element in heroism in all its different manifestations.
That is an excerpt from the epilogue of the book I am going to talk to you about today, which is heroes from Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to Churchill and de Gaulle.
And it was written by Paul Johnson.