Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and a social critic who is regarded as one of the great English writers of the 19th century.

 Early life 
Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England. His parents were John Dickens (1785-1851),Dickens Family Tree website a naval pay clerk, and Elizabeth Barrow (1789–1863).

When Dickens was born, he had dyslexia and so he could not read or write properly, unlike other kids. When Charles was 12 years old, his family moved to Camden, London. He worked in a blacking (shoe polish) factory there while his father was in prison for debt. Dickens's hard times in the factory served as a foundation of ideas for many of his novels. Many of them, like Oliver Twist, later became famous. When his great-grandmother died and transmitted money, Charles' father paid off his debts and was released from prison. Charles did not like working and wished to stop after his father had been released. However, his mother said that the family needed the money and so Charles was forced to continue working. Charles then finished his schooling and got a job as an office boy for an attorney. After finding that job dull, he taught himself shorthand and became a journalist that reports on the government. Dickens was a Unitarian.

 Author 
His first book was Sketches by Boz in 1836, a collection of the short pieces that he had been writing for the Monthly Magazine and the Evening Chronicle. This was followed by The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club in 1837. Both books became popular as soon as they were printed.

The high production costs of making A Christmas Carol led to reduced profits, and the first edition brought him only  rather than the  he expected. A year later, the profits were only , and Dickens was deeply disappointed.

Charles Dickens died of a stroke on June 9, 1870. He was buried in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. He died 5 years and 3 days after getting into a horrible train accident that killed 10 people and injured another 49.

 Books 
Charles Dickens wrote many books, including:
 Sketches by Boz (1836)
 The Pickwick Papers (1837)
 Oliver Twist (1838) 
 Nicholas Nickleby (1838)
 The Old Curiosity Shop (1840)
 Barnaby Rudge (1841)
 Martin Chuzzlewit (1843)
 A Christmas Carol (1843)
 Dombey and Son (1846—1848)
 David Copperfield (1849—1850)
 Bleak House (1851—1853)
 Hard Times (1854)
 Little Dorritt (1855—1857)
 A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
 Great Expectations (1861)
 Our Mutual Friend (1865)
 The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1869—1870) (unfinished)

 Notes 

 References 

 Other websites 


 Charles Dickens mobile ebooks 
 Charles Dickens  at the British Library




Category:Unitarians
Category:People buried in Westminster Abbey
Category:Writers from Portsmouth
Category:1812 births
Category:1870 deaths
Category:19th-century novelists