Charles Dickens

Enriched Classicsoffer readers accessible editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and commentary. Each book includes educational tools alongside the text, enabling students and readers alike to gain a deeper and more developed understanding of the writer and their work. Set in nineteenth-century England, Great Expectations is Dickens's timeless tale of an orphan boy's extraordinary journey through life. Enriched Classicsenhance your engagement by introducing and explaining the historical and cultural significance of the work, the author's personal history, and what impact this book had on subsequent scholarship. Each book includes discussion questions that help clarify and reinforce major themes and reading recommendations for further research. Read with confidence.

Compiled by Charles Dickens, and including chapters by Elizabeth Gaskell and Wilkie Collins, "A House to Let" is a composite tale of mystery and intrigue set amid the dark streets of Victorian London. Advised by her doctor to have a change of scenery, the elderly Sophonisba takes up lodgings in London. Immediately intrigued by a nearby house to let, she charges her two warring attendants, Trottle and Jarber, to unearth the secret behind its seeming desertedness. Rivals to the end, they each seek to outdo the other to satisfy their mistress curiosity; however, it is only after repeated false startsand by way of elaborate tales of men lost at sea, circus performers, and forged death certificatesthat they happen upon the truth. Charles Dickens is one of England s most important literary figures. His works enjoyed enormous success in his day and are still among the most popular and widely read classics of all time."

In this powerful new adaptation of Dickens' classic novel, Neil Bartlett brings back to the theatre one of the angriest, funniest and most deeply felt stories about childhood ever written. Taking their inspiration from the vivid world of Victorian music-hall, a company of thirteen actors conjure up a host of unforgettable characters - Fagin, Nancy, Bill Sikes, the Artful Dodger and, of course, little Oliver himself. Dickens' original words bring the dark underbelly of nineteenth-century London back to thrilling life - a city teeming with images of danger and fear, of innocence and of hope - all seen through the eyes of an astonished child. 'Oliver Twist' opens at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith in February 2004, and is suitable for ages 10 to adult.

Once upon a time, it matters little when, and in stalwart England, it matters little where, a fierce battle was fought. It was fought upon a long summer day when the waving grass was green. Many a wild flower formed by the Almighty Hand to be a perfumed goblet for the dew, felt its enameled cup filled high with blood that day, and shrinking dropped. Many an insect deriving its delicate color from harmless leaves and herbs, was stained anew that day by dying men, and marked its frightened way with an unnatural track. The painted butterfly took blood into the air upon the edges of its wings. The stream ran red. The trodden ground became a quagmire, whence, from sullen pools collected in the prints of human feet and horses' hoofs, the one prevailing hue still lowered and glimmered at the sun. Heaven keep us from a knowledge of the sights the moon beheld upon that field . . .

I have endeavored in this Ghostly little book to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humor with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it. Their faithful Friend and Servant, C.D., December, 1843.

The kettle began it! Don't tell me what Mrs. Peerybingle said. I know better. Mrs. Peerybingle may leave it on record to the end of time that she couldn't say which of them began it; but, I say the kettle did. I ought to know, I hope! The kettle began it, full five minutes by the little waxy-faced Dutch clock in the corner, before the Cricket uttered a chirp. As if the clock hadn't finished striking, and the convulsive little Haymaker at the top of it, jerking away right and left with a scythe in front of a Moorish Palace, hadn't mowed down half an acre of imaginary grass before the Cricket joined in at all!

Using only Charles Dickens' extraordinary words and a chameleon ensemble of eight actors, Neil Bartlett's "A Christmas Carol" brings a boldly theatrical imagination to bear on a classic story. "Gets right to the frozen heart of Dickens' classic Christmas tale ...one of those rare festive offerings for which no adult will need the excuse of a child in tow."--"The Guardian"

Dickens's favorite of all his novels, "David Copperfield is the story of a boy who loses both parents at an early age, and who escapes the torture of working for his pitiless stepfather to make something of himself and, with any luck, find true happiness. "David Copperfield features an unforgettable gallery of characters, including David's cruel stepfather Mr. Murdstone, the unctuous Uriah Heep, the amiable Mr. Micawber, whom Dickens based on his father, and Dora Spenglow, whom David marries and calls his "child-wife." Written in the first person, "David Copperfield is perhaps the most autobiographical of Dickens's fictions. This new edition includes commentaries, discussion questions, and Phiz's original illustrations. Radhika Jones is a doctoral candidate in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and the managing editor of Grand Street magazine. She also introduced Dickens's "Great Expectations for Barnes & Noble Classics.

Possibly the best-known and best-loved of all Charles Dickens' many novels, the adventures of Oliver Twist never fail to delight. This thrilling story of an orphan boy, born into a Victorian workhouse, and escaping only to be taken in by a gang of thieves and pickpockets, has become a timeless classic. Reprinted here with George Cruikshank's original illustrations, it is more than a wonderful story; it is a piece of literary history to treasure.

'In Little Dorrit, Dickens attacked English institutions with a ferocity that has never since been approached' George OrwellA masterly evocation of the state and psychology of imprisonment, Little Dorrit is one of the supreme works of Dickens's maturity. It follows Arthur Clennam who, returning to England after many years abroad, takes a kindly interest in Amy Dorrit, his mother's seamstress, who was born and raised in the Marshalsea where her father has long been imprisoned for debt. As Arthur soon discovers, the dark shadow of the prison stretches far beyond its walls to affect the lives of many, from the kindly Mr Pancks, the reluctant rent-collector of Bleeding Heart Yard, to the bureaucratic Barnacles in the Circumlocution Office and Merdle, an unscrupulous financier. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Stephen Wall and Helen Small

York Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. This market-leading series has been completely updated to meet the needs of today's A-level and undergraduate students. Written by established literature experts, York Notes Advanced intorduce students to more sophisticated analysis, a range of critical perspectives and wider contexts.