Charles Dickens

This wide-ranging book looks at the author as a Victorian 'man of letters', and explores his cultural and critical impact, both on the definition of the novel in the 19th century and the subsequent development of the form in the 20th. It examines the full spectrum of Dickens's writing, including his journalism, work as an editor of periodicals, sketches and stories, placing his work in its contemporary context as well as reassessing it in the light of late modern/postmodern rereadings.

Lyn Pykett is Professor of English, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.