num_pages: 496
description: Dickens's widely read satirical account of the Industrial Revolution. Dickens creates the Victorian industrial city of Coketown, in northern England, and its unforgettable citizens, such as the unwavering utilitarian Thomas Gradgrind and the factory owner Josiah Bounderby, and the result is his famous critique of capitalist philosophy, the exploitative force he believed was destroying human creativity and joy. This edition includes new notes to the text.
language: English
title: Hard Times
titlecomplete: Hard Times
characters: Mrs. Sparsit, Mr. M'Choakumchild, Sissy Jupe, Josiah Bounderby, James Harthouse, Louisa Gradgrind, Stephen Blackpool, Thomas Gradgrind
genres: Classics, British Literature, Novels, Classic Literature, School, Historical Fiction, Literature, 19th Century, Fiction, Victorian
ratings_count: 66513
places: Coketown
publisher: W. W. Norton & Company