David Copperfield was Dickens' 'favourite child' and is a novel of personal development with richly comic as well as deeply poignant moments. "Great Expectations" also traces the progress of a young man through life but, as a novel of the author's maturity, is expressed in subtler shades of nuance. "Oliver Twist" is more black-and-white than either, highlighting the incorruptibility of young Oliver as he battles with the evil of Fagin and Bill Sikes. "A Christmas Carol" is both a ghost story and a moral tale, which defined the pattern of Christmas celebrations. The four books in one volume represent much of Dickens' finest writing.

Author Biography

Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth in 1812, the son of a naval clerk. The family moved to London when he was 10 years old, and for a while they were retained in Marshalsea debtors' prison. Aged 16, Charles became a court reporter, then a journalist, and then an author. He was a prolific writer throughout his life, publishing novels, plays and short stories. As well as A Christmas Carol (1843), his most famous works include The Adventures of Oliver Twist (1837-9), Bleak House (1852-3), and Great Expectations (1860-1).