Charles Dickens

Who is Charles Dickens?

Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic, regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Born in Portsmouth, he experienced hardship in childhood when his father was imprisoned for debt and he was sent to work in a boot-blacking factory, an experience that shaped his lifelong concern with poverty and social injustice. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters and his novels enjoyed unprecedented popularity in his lifetime, often published in serial instalments. His works include Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations. Dickens was also a tireless campaigner for children's rights, education, and other social reforms. His public readings drew large audiences in Britain and abroad. He is buried in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, and his works have never gone out of print.

Sources: Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, 1861 · Peter Ackroyd, Dickens, 1990