First published in 1859, &quot;Self-Help&quot; was the first book by reformist Scottish journalist Samuel Smiles and it is considered his masterpiece.<br /><br />&quot;Self-Help&quot; promoted thrift and claimed that poverty was caused largely by irresponsible habits, while also attacking materialism and <i>laissez-faire </i>government. A bestseller immediately after its publication, &quot;Self-Help&quot; propelled its author to fame and rapidly became one of Victorian Britain&#39;s most important statements on the allied virtues of hard work, thrift, and perseverance, being called &quot;<i>the bible of mid-Victorian liberalism</i>&quot;.