A famous Liberal sneers that “culture” is only a smattering of Greek and Latin—and Matthew Arnold’s answer begins with an unexpected concession: perhaps men of culture should not be trusted with power. In the political ferment of Victorian England, Arnold takes on critics who accuse culture of vanity, useless book-learning and political indecision. Though a Liberal himself, he doubts that swift action can mend society if people have not first learned to see clearly what needs mending. His answer reaches beyond education and class, asking what might make people wiser and the world less confused and miserable. But can the pursuit of perfection do more than sharpen the mind? With centuries of literature, it's inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. We hunt down public domain works and restore them so they're not lost to the world. Who are we? We're Cairn Press. Our background is in design, publishing, typography, and technology. These skills fuel our mission to create the highest quality Public Domain eBooks available online, at an affordable price. We give them the treatment they deserve; our proprietary process restores books for a better overall user experience in design, readability, and e-reader compatibility.
