Samuel Johnson was a literary icon in his day - a prolific writer in a wide range of genres, producing poetry, a philosophical novel, literary criticism and periodical essays as well as the famous dictionary. Yet despite his legendary status as one of the founding fathers of modern English literature, few of Johnson’s works are widely read today. This book suggests that Johnson’s writings need to be appreciated in the context of contemporary debates over the role and status of literature within a rapidly developing and expanding culture. They manifest a fundamental ambivalence towards social and literary change that can be seen to epitomise the radical uncertainties of their age.