Who was Charles Dickens?
Charles Dickens was one of England's greatest novelists, writing classics such as Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield and Great Expectations. His stories exposed poverty and injustice in Victorian England.
Dickens was born in Portsmouth in 1812. When he was 12, his father was imprisoned for debt, and Charles was sent to work in a factory pasting labels on bottles of boot polish. The experience shaped his writing.
He began his career as a journalist and became famous with The Pickwick Papers, published in monthly parts in 1836 and 1837.
Famous works
Many of Dickens's novels were first published in installments in magazines, keeping readers eager for the next part. His characters, such as Ebenezer Scrooge, Oliver Twist, Fagin and Miss Havisham, are known around the world.
A Christmas Carol, published in 1843, helped shape the modern celebration of Christmas, with its themes of generosity and family.
Dickens campaigned for social reform, including better conditions for children and the poor. He gave public readings of his works in Britain and America, which were hugely popular.
He died in 1870 and was buried in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. The Charles Dickens Museum in London is in his former home on Doughty Street. The adjective Dickensian describes poverty and squalor like that in his novels.