Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was one of the most renowned and influential writers of the 19th century Victorian era in England. Born in 1812 in Portsmouth, his early years were marked by hardship when his father was imprisoned for debt, forcing young Charles to work at a shoe-polish factory to help provide for his struggling family.

After finishing school, Dickens worked as a legal clerk and then taught himself shorthand so he could pursue a career in journalism. His first published stories and sketches of London life appeared in newspapers in the early 1830s when Dickens was in his early 20s.

His first novel, The Pickwick Papers, became wildly popular and within a few years, Dickens was internationally famous. He continued writing prolifically to critical acclaim. Over the span of his career, Dickens authored more than a dozen major novels highlighted by classics like Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations. His unique writing was bursting with imagination, unforgettable characters, humor, and keen observations of society and class divisions in Victorian-era England.

Beyond his fiction, Dickens was a tireless champion for social reform and used both his writing and his public prominence to advocate for the poor. From his books to his activism, Dickens had an unmatched influence during his lifetime and remains one of the towering icons of English literature even 150 years after his death in 1870 at the age of 58. The timeless inventiveness of his storytelling cemented Dickens’ legacy as one of the world’s literary giants.