Most Popular Books by Charles Dickens

In Two Volumes. Containing A Faithful Account Of The Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, And Complete Career Of The Nickleby Family.

Nicholas Nickleby; or, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is a novel by Charles Dickens. Originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839, it was Dickens''s third novel. The novel centres on the life and adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, a young man who must support his mother and sister after his father dies. Nicholas Nickleby is Charles Dickens''s third published novel. He returned to his favourite publishers and to the format that was considered so successful with The Pickwick Papers. The story first appeared in monthly parts, after which it was issued in one volume. The style is considered to be episodic and humorous, though the second half of the novel becomes more serious and tightly plotted. Dickens began writing Nickleby while still working on Oliver Twist and while the mood is considerably lighter, his depiction of the Yorkshire school run by Wackford Squeers is as moving and influential as those of the workhouse and criminal underclass in Twist.

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (also known as The Pickwick Papers) was Charles Dickens''s first and personal favourite novel. He was asked to contribute to the project as an up-and-coming writer following the success of Sketches by Boz, published in 1836 (most of Dickens'' novels were issued in shilling instalments before being published as complete volumes). Dickens (still writing under the pseudonym of Boz) increasingly took over the unsuccessful monthly publication after the original illustrator Robert Seymour had committed suicide.With the introduction of Sam Weller in chapter 10, the book became the first real publishing phenomenon, with bootleg copies, theatrical performances, Sam Weller joke books, and other merchandise.After the publication, the widow of Robert Seymour claimed that the idea for the novel was originally her husband''s; however, in his preface to the 1867 edition, Dickens strenuously denied any specific input, writing that "Mr Seymour never originated or suggested an incident, a phrase, or a word, to be found in the book."

Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy''s Progress is Charles Dickens''s second novel, and was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and released as a three-volume book in 1838, before the serialization ended. The story centers on orphan Oliver Twist, born in a workhouse and sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker.

Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy''s Progress, is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, and was first published as a serial 1837-39. The story is of the orphan Oliver Twist, who starts his life in a workhouse and is then sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. He escapes from there and travels to London, where he meets the Artful Dodger, a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal, Fagin.Oliver Twist is notable for its unromantic portrayal by Dickens of criminals and their sordid lives, as well as for exposing the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century.The alternate title, The Parish Boy''s Progress, alludes to Bunyan''s The Pilgrim''s Progress, as well as the 18th-century caricature series by William Hogarth, A Rake''s Progress and A Harlot''s Progress

Nicholas Nickleby is Charles Dickens'' third published novel. He returned to his favourite publishers and to the format that was considered so successful with The Pickwick Papers. The story first appeared in monthly parts, after which it was issued in one volume. The style is considered to be episodic and humorous, though the second half of the novel becomes more serious and tightly plotted. Dickens began writing ''Nickleby'' while still working on Oliver Twist and while the mood is considerably lighter, his depiction of the Yorkshire school run by Wackford Squeers is as moving and influential as those of the workhouse and criminal underclass in Twist. ''Nickleby'' marks a new development in a further sense as it is the first of Dickens'' romances. When it was published the book was an immediate and complete success and established Dickens''s lasting reputation. The cruelty of a real Yorkshire schoolmaster named William Shaw became the basis for Dickens''s brutal character of Wackford Squeers. Dickens visited his school and based the school section of Nicholas Nickleby on his visit.

"My satire is against those who see figures and averages, and nothing else," proclaimed Charles Dickens in explaining the theme of this classic novel. Published in 1854, the story concerns one Thomas Gradgrind, a "fanatic of the demonstrable fact," who raises his children, Tom and Louisa, in a stifling and arid atmosphere of grim practicality.Without a moral compass to guide them, the children sink into lives of desperation and despair, played out against the grim background of Coketown, a wretched community shadowed by an industrial behemoth. Louisa falls into a loveless marriage with Josiah Bouderby, a vulgar banker, while the unscrupulous Tom, totally lacking in principle, becomes a thief who frames an innocent man for his crime. Witnessing the degradation and downfall of his children, Gradgrind realizes that his own misguided principles have ruined their lives.Considered Dickens'' harshest indictment of mid-19th-century industrial practices and their dehumanizing effects, this novel offers a fascinating tapestry of Victorian life, filled with the richness of detail, brilliant characterization, and passionate social concern that typify the novelist''s finest creations.Of Dickens'' work, the eminent Victorian critic John Ruskin had this to say: "He is entirely right in his main drift and purpose in every book he has written; and all of them, but especially Hard Times, should be studied with close and earnest care by persons interested in social questions."

A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same period.

"The Mystery of Edwin Drood" is one of the finest novels of Charles Dickens but the novel could not be completed by Dickens because he kissed death before the completion of the novel. Charles Dickens''s final, unfinished novel, and one that has puzzled readers and inspired writers since its publication, The Mystery of Edwin Drood is edited with an introduction by David Paroissien in Penguin Classics. The identity of the murderers in the novel is still a matter of debate. Though the name of the novel is inspired by the character of Edwin Drood but the story actually revolves around Edwin''s uncle Mr. John Jasper who falls in love with his pupil who is also Edwin''s fiancé. Rosa Bud; Edwin''s fiancé also catches the attention of Neville Landless who comes with his twin sister Helena from Ceylon. Neville is madly in love with Rose and the result is as anyone can possibly expect; both Neville and Edwin become enemies. The story takes an unexpected turn when Edwin disappears under mysterious circumstances. Before Edwin goes missing, a lot of things happen which consequently ends in a mystery which is unsolved till date because of the death of Dickens. Edwin and Rose are madly in love with each other and they are not bothered about the fact that Edwin''s uncle and Neville re madly in love with Rose. Mr. Grewgious gives Edwin the ring which Rose''s father gave to her mother and now Edwin makes Rose wear the ring. They are too much in love to notice what is going around them. One fine day Rosa, Edwin and Neville meet at a party and Edwin casually goes to a nearby shop. There he meets a mysterious woman who asks his name. When he says that his name is Edwin, the woman says that if his name would have been Ned, he would be in danger. Edwin ignores this lady''s strange talk and leaves the place nodding happily to the woman. Edwin and Neville go down to the steaming river next day and since then, Edwin goes missing. Neville is obviously suspected as the murderer but he denies all the allegations stating that he did love Rose but that did not mean that he will end up killing her fiancé. Mr. John Jasper now enters again in the scenario. He proposes marriage to Rose and when she disagrees he blackmails her by saying that he will threaten the life of Neville, her best friend Helena''s twin brother.

A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. A Christmas Carol tells the story of a bitter old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation into a gentler, kindlier man after visitations by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.

An assembly of family, friends, lovers, and enemies are ensnared by the long-running court case Jarndyce and Jarndyce. For orphan Esther Summerson, it might lead to the truth of her parentage. The arrogant Lady Dedlock fears the legal tangle could expose her secret. For the malevolent solicitor Mr. Tulkinghorn, the costly dispute is a gainful opportunity. As for John Jarndyce, Esther''s guardian and master of Bleak House, it''s a chance to correct the past. When questions of inheritance become a trigger for murder, the sharp-eyed Inspector Bucket enters the fray.Reaching from the treacherous upper crust to the humble London slums, Bleak House is Charles Dickens''s masterful social satire with equal parts mystery and romance.

Oliver Twist is the story of a young orphan, Oliver, and his attempts to stay good in a society that refuses to help. Oliver is born in a workhouse, to a mother not known to anyone in the town. She dies right after giving birth to him, and he is sent to the parochial orphanage, where he and the other orphans are treated terribly and fed very little. When he turns nine, he is sent to the workhouse, where again he and the others are treated badly and practically starved. The other boys, unable to stand their hunger any longer, decide to draw straws to choose who will have to go up and ask for more food. Oliver loses. On the appointed day, after finishing his first serving of gruel, he goes up and asks for more. Mr. Bumble, the beadle, and the board are outraged, and decide they must get rid of Oliver, apprenticing him to the parochial undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry. It is not great there either, and after an attack on his mother''s memory, Oliver runs away.Oliver walks towards London. When he is close, he is so weak he can barely continue, and he meets another boy named Jack Dawkins, or the artful Dodger. The Dodger tells Oliver he can come with him to a place where a gentleman will give him a place to sleep and food, for no rent. Oliver follows, and the Dodger takes him to an apartment in London where he meets Fagin, the aforementioned gentleman, and Oliver is offered a place to stay. Oliver eventually learns that Fagin''s boys are all pickpockets and thieves, but not until he is wrongfully accused of their crime of stealing an old gentleman''s handkerchief. He is arrested, but the bookseller comes just in time to the court and says that he saw that Oliver did not do it. The gentleman whose handkerchief was taken, Mr. Brownlow, feels bad for Oliver, and takes him in.Oliver is very happy with Mr. Brownlow, but Fagin and his co-conspirators are not happy to have lost Oliver, who may give away their hiding place. So one day, when Mr. Brownlow entrusts Oliver to return some books to the bookseller for him, Nancy spots Oliver, and kidnaps him, taking him back to Fagin.Oliver is forced to go on a house-breaking excursion with the intimidating Bill Sikes. At gun point Oliver enters the house, with the plan to wake those within, but before he can, he is shot by one of the servants. Sikes and his partner escape, leaving Oliver in a ditch. The next morning Oliver makes it back to the house, where the kind owner, Mrs. Maylie, and her beautiful niece Rose, decide to protect him from the police and nurse him back to health.Oliver slowly recovers, and is extremely happy and grateful to be with such kind and generous people, who in turn are ecstatic to find that Oliver is such a good-natured boy. When he is well enough, they take him to see Mr. Brownlow, but they find his house empty--he has moved to the West Indies. Meanwhile, Fagin and his mysterious partner Monks have not given up on finding Oliver, and one day Oliver wakens from a nightmare to find them staring at him through his window. He raises the alarm, but they escape.Nancy, overhearing Fagin and Monks, decides that she must go to Rose Maylie to tell her what she knows. She does so, telling Rose that Monks is Oliver''s half-brother, who has been trying to destroy Oliver so that he can keep his whole inheritance, but that she will not betray Fagin or Sikes. Rose tells Mr. Brownlow, who tells Oliver''s other caretakers, and they decide that they must meet Nancy again to find out how to find Monks.They meet her on London Bridge at a prearranged time, but Fagin has become suspicious, and has sent his new boy, Noah Claypole, to spy on Nancy. Nancy tells Rose and Mr. Brownlow how to find Monks, but still refuses to betray Fagin and Sikes, or to go with them. Noah reports everything to Fagin, who tells Sikes, knowing full well that Sikes will kill Nancy. He does. Mr. Brownlow has in the mean time found Monks, who finally admits everything that he has done, and the true...

Hard Times was originally published in serial form, in a magazine called Household Words beginning on April 1, 1854. The last time that Dickens had published a work in serial form was in 1841 and when publication of Hard Times had begun, Dickens was barely halfway through the writing. In the end, Hard Times is among the shortest of Dickens''s novels and the material was arranged so that it would "divide well"?prolonging suspense at all of the weekly conclusions.

"Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy''s Progress is Charles Dickens''s second novel, and was first published as a serial 1837-39.[1] The story centres on orphan Oliver Twist, born in a workhouse and sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. After escaping, Oliver travels to London, where he meets ""The Artful Dodger"", a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal, Fagin.Oliver Twist is notable for its unromantic portrayal by Dickens of criminals and their sordid lives, as well as for exposing the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century.[2] The alternative title, The Parish Boy''s Progress, alludes to Bunyan''s The Pilgrim''s Progress, as well as the 18th-century caricature series by William Hogarth, A Rake''s Progress and A Harlot''s Progress.[3]In this early example of the social novel, Dickens satirises the hypocrisies of his time, including child labour, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of working as a child labourer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s. It is likely that Dickens''s own youthful experiences contributed as well.Oliver Twist has been the subject of numerous adaptations for various media, including a highly successful musical play, Oliver!, and the multiple Academy Award-winning 1968 motion picture. Disney also put its spin on the novel with the animated film called Oliver & Company in 1988"

One of the masterpieces of the written world. A must-read. Illustrated with doodles Complete and unabridged A gripping portrayal of London''s dark criminal underbelly, published in Penguin Classics with an introduction by Philip Horne. The story of Oliver Twist - orphaned, and set upon by evil and adversity from his first breath - shocked readers when it was published. After running away from the workhouse and pompous beadle Mr Bumble, Oliver finds himself lured into a den of thieves peopled by vivid and memorable characters - the Artful Dodger, vicious burglar Bill Sikes, his dog Bull''s Eye, and prostitute Nancy, all watched over by cunning master-thief Fagin. Combining elements of Gothic Romance, the Newgate Novel and popular melodrama, Dickens created an entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery.

Little Dorrit is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. It satirises the shortcomings of both government and society, including the institution of debtors'' prisons, where debtors were imprisoned, unable to work, until they repaid their debts. The prison in this case is the Marshalsea, where Dickens''s own father had been imprisoned. Dickens is also critical of the lack of a social safety net, the treatment and safety of industrial workers, as well the bureaucracy of the British Treasury, in the form of his fictional "Circumlocution Office". In addition he satirises the stratification of society that results from the British class system.

Why buy our paperbacks? Printed in USA on High Quality Paper Standard Font size of 10 for all books Fulfilled by Amazon Expedited shipping 30 Days Money Back Guarantee Unabridged (100% Original content) BEWARE OF LOW-QUALITY SELLERS Don''t buy cheap paperbacks just to save a few dollars. Most of them use low-quality papers & binding. Their pages fall off easily. Some of them even use very small font size of 6 or less to increase their profit margin. It makes their books completely unreadable. About Bleak House By Charles Dickens Bleak House, a novel by Charles Dickens, was first published as a serial between March 1852 and September 1853, and is considered to be one of Dickens'' finest novels, containing vast, complex and engaging arrays of characters and sub-plots. The story is told partly by the novel''s heroine, Esther Summerson, and partly by an omniscient narrator. Memorable characters include haughty Lady Honoria Dedlock, the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn, the realistic John Jarndyce, and the childish and disingenuous Harold Skimpole, as well as the imprudent Richard Carstone. At the novel''s centre is long-running litigation Jarndyce and Jarndyce, which has far-reaching consequences for all involved. This case revolves around a testator who apparently made several wills. Dickens'' satirization of the English judicial system is based in part on his own experiences as a law clerk, and in part on his experiences as a litigant seeking to enforce copyright on his earlier books.

The objective of this series is to introduce children to the works of literary giants like Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, R.L. Stevension and other which are known as classics. These stories must be read at a younger age so that a feeling of adventure ignites at the right time.

One of the classics masterpieces of the written world. A must-read. Illustrated with doodles Complete and Unabridged It was the time of the French Revolution -- a time of great change and great danger. It was a time when injustice was met by a lust for vengeance, and rarely was a distinction made between the innocent and the guilty. Against this tumultuous historical backdrop, Dickens'' great story of unsurpassed adventure and courage unfolds. Unjustly imprisoned for 18 years in the Bastille, Dr. Alexandre Manette is reunited with his daughter, Lucie, and safely transported from France to England. It would seem that they could take up the threads of their lives in peace. As fate would have it though, the pair are summoned to the Old Bailey to testify against a young Frenchman -- Charles Darnay -- falsely accused of treason. Strangely enough, Darnay bears an uncanny resemblance to another man in the courtroom, the dissolute lawyer''s clerk Sydney Carton. It is a coincidence that saves Darnay from certain doom more than once. Brilliantly plotted, the novel is rich in drama, romance, and heroics that culminate in a daring prison escape in the shadow of the guillotine.