Charles Dickens was pre-eminently the novelist of the law, and his lawyers have a hold upon the public imagination far surpassing that of any other author. Dickens method is not the common one of unreasoning denunciation of a class. He knew better than to represent all lawyers as rogues, for he had the advantage of knowing the legal profession from the inside. He never lays down bad law, and he never credits a member of the legal profession with impossible professional conduct.

Using direct quotations from Dickens to complement his own analysis and descriptions of the characters in his works, the author has compiled a biographical dictionary of the works of Charles Dickens. This title is cited and recommended by the Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature. "It is not only valuable for reference purposes, but one may take it up and read it with interest on any page, and thus recall his former impressions of famous characters." - Literary Digest