Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was born in Landport, Hampshire, during the new industrial age, which gave birth to theories of Karl Marx. Dickens's father was a clerk in the navy pay office. He was well paid but often ended in financial troubles. In 1814 Dickens moved to London, and then to Chatham, where he received some education. The schoolmaster William Giles gave special attention to Dickens, who made rapid progress. In 1824, at the age of 12, Dickens was sent to work for some months at a blacking factory, Hungerford Market, London, while his father John was in Marshalsea debtor's prison.

"My father and mother were quite satisfied," Dickens later recalled bitterly. "They could hardly have been more so, if I had been twenty years of age, distinguished at a grammar-school, and going to Cambridge."

Later this period found its way to the novel Little Dorrit (1855-57). John Dickens paid his £40 debt with the money he inherited from his mother; she died at the age of seventy-nine when he was still in prison.

 

---

Featured Books, with extracts by Charles Dickens

Quentin Blake's A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens
Best-selling illustrator Quentin Blake brings fresh appeal to Charles Dickens’s classic Christmas story in this lovely edition. He captures the essence of the miserable Ebenezer Scrooge who would like to live without kindness, charity, love and especially Christmas which he...
Format: Hardback - Released: 15/09/2011
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

Oliver Twist (Oxford Children's Classics)
Charles Dickens
Well-produced for younger readers, this handsome and easy-to-read edition makes an excellent introduction to one of Charles Dickens’s best-loved novel. The story of Oliver, the boy who famously asked for “More” leading to his expulsion from the workhouse and subsequent...
Format: Hardback - Released: 04/03/2010
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

A Christmas Carol (Classics Illustrated)
Charles Dickens
The Lovereading comment: This edition of The Christmas Carol is one of a range of marvellous comic books created in the '50s and '60s now with artwork re-coloured and covers digitally enhanced for a new generation. Perfect bound at a terrifically...
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/12/2009
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

A Christmas Carol, Illustrated Edition
Charles Dickens
“Bah!” “Humbug!” Ebenezer Scrooge hates Christmas and he does his best to stop others enjoying it either. But then he gets a visit from three ghostly visitors – the ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Yet to Come. The three...
Format: Paperback - Released: 07/09/2009
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
All the action, bravery and romance of those living through the bloody drama of the French Revolution with the unflinching emblem of the guillotine always in the background are unfolded in Charles Dickens’s classic A Tale of Two Cities. Charles...
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/03/2009
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

Oliver Twist (Classics Illustrated)
Charles Dickens
The classic tale of Oliver Twist brought to life in full colour. This beautiful version of Charles Dickens' tale of childhood in Victorian times will delight readers of all ages. From those who remember the original Classics Illustrated, to new...
Format: Paperback - Released: 25/10/2008
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel (Original Text)
Charles Dickens
The original Christmas tale is brought to life in this colourful graphic novel adaptation. It is the second Charles Dickens title from Classical Comics and probably his best-loved story. Set in Victorian England and highlighting the social injustice of the...
Format: Paperback - Released: 13/10/2008
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel (Quick Text)
Charles Dickens
This is the full story in quick modern English for a fast-paced read. The original Christmas tale is brought to life in this colourful graphic novel adaptation. It is the second Charles Dickens title from Classical Comics and probably his...
Format: Paperback - Released: 13/10/2008
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

A Christmas Carol with A Christmas Tree (illustrated by Robert Ingpen)
Charles Dickens
A favourite of Michael Morpurgo: "The first few pages were so engaging, Marley's ghostly face on the knocker of Scrooge's door still gives me the shivers." This gorgeous and sumptuously illustrated new edition of the completely unabridged A Christmas Carol is...
Format: Hardback - Released: 01/09/2008
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

A Christmas Carol (with an introduction by Anthony Horowitz)
Charles Dickens
Christmas: everyone loves Christmas except for Ebenezer Scrooge whose name has become synonymous with a miserly outlook on life. Hating Christmas as usual and doing all he can to spoil everyone else’s fun, Scrooge is visited by three ghosts one...
Format: Paperback - Released: 07/08/2008
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

Oliver Twist (with an Introduction by Garth Nix)
Charles Dickens
Chosen by Michael Morpurgo. As famous lines go in literature, ‘Please sir, I want some more’ is one that not many children are unaware of but have they read the book from which it came?  If not, then Oliver Twist,...
Format: Paperback - Released: 28/02/2008
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens
From Michael Morpurgo: "The first few pages were so engaging, Marley's ghostly face on the knocker of Scrooge's door still gives me the shivers."
Format: Paperback - Released: 21/02/2008
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

A Child's History Of England
Charles Dickens
History is boring?  Well think again.  This piece of history and literature by Charles Dickens provides a fast-paced, relevant, exciting history with witty observations and compelling narrative, which will capture a child’s (and parents) imagination.  It’s an absolutely fascinating treasure...
Format: Paperback - Released: 04/10/2007
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens
Originally published well over 150 years ago this classic from Charles Dickens remains as important in the world of children’s literature as ever. It has captured the hearts and minds of children everywhere over generations and this marvellous new edition complete...
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/10/2006
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
October 2011 Guest Editor Roddy Doyle: A small boy called Pip is in a graveyard just as it’s getting dark. He’s looking at the grave where his parents and five brothers are buried. An escaped convict jumps out from behind...
Format: Paperback (b Format) - Released: 30/01/2003
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy

Hard Times
Charles Dickens
Coketown is dominated by the figure of Mr Thomas Gradgrind, school headmaster and model of Utilitarian success. Feeding both his pupils and family with facts, he bans fancy and wonder from any young minds. As a consequence, his obedient daughter Louisa marries the...
Format: Paperback - Released: 31/03/1994
Info   Extract   Wishlist   Compare Price   Buy