Charles Dickens

"Great Expectations is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel: a bildungsroman that depicts the personal growth and personal development of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens's second novel, after David Copperfield, to be fully narrated in the first person. The novel was first published as a serial in Dickens's weekly periodical All the Year Round, from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. In October 1861, Chapman...

"First published in 1838, ‘Oliver Twist' is one of the most admired novels by Charles Dickens, an English writer, and social critic. It is the story of a young orphan who dares to say, ""Please, sir, I want some more."" After escaping from the dark and dismal workhouse where he was born, Oliver finds himself on the mean streets of Victorian-era London and is unwittingly recruited into a scabrous gang of scheming urchins. In this band of petty thieves,...

When Nicholas Nickleby is left penniless after his father's death, he appeals to his wealthy uncle to help him find work and to protect his mother and sister. But Ralph Nickleby proves both hard-hearted and unscrupulous, and Nicholas finds himself forced to make his own way in the world. His adventures gave Dickens the opportunity to portray an extraordinary gallery of rogues and eccentrics: Wackford Squeers, the tyrannical headmaster of Dotheboys...

From the mysterious Druids and noble King Alfred to the notorious Henry VIII and the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Charles Dickens traced his country's history for the benefit of young Victorians. Written with the beloved storyteller's customary panache, this series of historical vignettes reads like a fast-paced novel, rich in anecdotes and colorful stories. Dickens' unsparing, witty, and opinionated perspectives on the great pageant of English history...

One of a series of episodic tales that Charles Dickens originally published in serial form, "A Message From the Sea" has one of the most beloved fiction writers in British literary history turning his attention to a quaint seaside village and the encounter between its residents and a hoary crew of sailors that wash up on its shore. A must-read for Dickens buffs or fans of nautically themed tales. As part of our mission to publish great works of literary...

Mugby Junction is a collection of short stories centered around a fictionalized English railway station. In it, a man arrives at the station and befriends a workman and his invalid daughter. The subsequent short stories recount his explorations of the various lines leading to and from Mugby Junction. Not really a Christmas story per se, it is instead a story about a grumpy old man finding the Christmas spirit.

In Charles Dickens' short story, "Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings", a recently widowed landlady is called upon to bring up an abandoned child. Mrs. Lirriper and her longtime lodger, the Major, entertain the child by relating stories of their colorful fellow lodgers. Before long, the landlady and the Major are involved in their own suspenseful tale. Originally published in the 1863 Christmas issue of "All The Year Round", this story was a collaboration with...

Written in the style of a letter to a close friend, "Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy" resolves the story begun in "Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings". Full of stories of kindness and goodwill, the story reprises the issue of the parentage of an abandoned child and involves a bequest to the widow Lirriper which puts everything to right. Originally published in the 1864 Christmas issue of "All The Year Round", this story was a collaboration with other writers including...

In this Charles Dickens "framework" novel, first published in the Christmas edition of "All the Year Round" in 1861, visitors tell their personal stories to the hermit Mr. Mopes. Originally, some of the stories were written by Dickens, and the other short stories were contributed by some of Dickens' frequent collaborators, including Wilkie Collins. The name is taken from an old children's game.

One of a series of Christmas-themed short stories that were serialized in Charles Dickens' own "Household Words" journal, "The Holly Tree Inn," (1859) uses the loneliness of the wayfaring traveler as a prism through which to examine society. A timeless reflection on the deeper meaning of the holiday, this holiday classic is the perfect fireside read.