Relying heavily on his sermons and correspondence, this «life and times» biography of F.W. Robertson (1816-1853) illustrates his influence in bettering social conditions for the working classes in early Victorian England. Robertson lived and preached democratic values at a time when that was considered radical or even heretical for an upper-class Englishman. Robertson’s inspirational insights into the nature of the spiritual life are timeless in content and poetic in expression.