Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens [5] was an English writer and journalist born on 7 February 1812 and who died on 9 June 1870 [1]. Regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, he created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and by the 20th century critics and scholars had come to recognise him as a literary genius whose novels and short stories remain widely read today [1].

Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school at age 12 to work in a boot-blacking factory after his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison [8]. He later returned to school and began his literary career as a journalist, going on to edit a weekly journal for 20 years and to write 15 novels, 5 novellas, and hundreds of short stories and nonfiction articles [8]. Throughout his career he also campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms [8].

The most famous celebrity of his era, Dickens undertook a series of public reading tours in response to popular demand [12]. His cultural legacy endures in the adjective Dickensian, used to describe poor social or working conditions or comically repulsive characters reminiscent of his writings [12].

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