In this novel, Dickens describes one boy growing up in a world which is by turns magical, fearful and grimly realistic. In a book which is part autobiographical, the novelist transmutes his life-experience into a series of comic and sentimental adventures.

An unknown benefactor provides Philip Pirrip with the chance to escape his poor upbringing. Aspiring to be a gentleman, and encouraged by his expectations of wealth, he abandons his friends and moves to London. His expectations prove to be unfounded however, and he must return home penniless.

This edition of Hard Times includes an introduction by Philip Collins. It tells the tragic story of Louisa, starved of the graces of the imagination so essential to emotional well-being, and trapped in a loveless marriage.

This is an historical romance which takes place in Paris and London during the French Revolution. It is also a powerful study of crowd psychology and the dark emotions aroused by the Revolution.

A melodrama of honest youth triumphing over vice and injustice, this novel is an indignant protest against cruelty and oppression, most memorably encapsulated in Dickens's portrayal of Mr Squeers and his wicked boarding school - a passage which helped to reform the Victorian education system.

The distinctive combination of manic comedy, bitter satire and fierce melodrama separates this novel from most of Dickens's other works. The storyline alternates between Britain and the United States in ways which highlight the failings of both societies.

As in many of Dickens's greatest novels, the gulf between appearance and reality drives the action. Set in the seemingly innocuous cathedral town of Cloisterham, the story rapidly darkens with a sense of impending evil. Central to the plot is John Jasper: in public he is a man of integrity and benevolence, in private he is an opium addict. And while seeming to smile on the engagement of his nephew, Edwin Drood, he is, in fact, consumed by jealousy, driven to terrify the boy's fiancee and to plot the murder of Edwin himself. Though The Mystery of Edwin Drood is one of its author's darkest...

The story of Scrooge, a miser who becomes a different man when he is presented with visions of past, present and future by Marley's ghost. First published on 17th December 1843, it had, by Christmas Eve of that year, sold 6000 copies at a price of five shillings.

With a hungry, timid request of 'Please, sir. I want some more', orphan Oliver Twist takes his first step on a terrifying journey. In the dark, dangerous streets of Victorian London Oliver enters the world of people so poor and desperate that they will take any risk and know no mercy. Relentlessly pursued by the menacing criminal world, who should Oliver trust? Are his true friends strong enough to resist the determined plotting of desperate villains? In this gripping tale of kidnapping, shooting and murder, Charles Dickens shows the threats to a vulnerable boy's existence and asks the...

'Why bless you, Little Nell What if I had lost you?' Little Nell Trent's childhood is over. Her grandfather's mind is failing, his dark secret makes him sad and distracted, and he has nobody to care for him but Nell. The grotesque Daniel Quilp is out to cause trouble. What plans does he hatch with the dreadful Sampson and Sally Brass? What use can he hope to make of the foolish Dick Swiveller? Is Nell's one true friend, Kit, a match for Quilp's villainous mind? Nell and her grandfather must disappear or be separated forever, and so they begin their lives as beggars. When a mysterious...