An amazing insight into the life of one of the greatest novelists, this is a magnum opus. It critically analyses various works of Dickens as well as the time when they were written. The imagination, endeavour and effort behind the conception of each of the characters created by him are defined in detail. One of the best bibliographies dealing with Dickens' legacy written by Gissing, one of his contemporaries who personally knew him well and who was himself one of the great Victorian Era authors.