Charles Dickens

This new holiday-themed volume collects Dicken's three most renowed Christmas Books. In addition to the beloved and ever-popular "A Christmas Carol, with its ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, it includes "The Chimes, a New Year's tale, and "The Cricket on the Hearth, in which the title character remains silent during sorrow and chirps amid happiness.

'A revelation ... as well as being sympathetic to the plight of children, it is hilarious' A. N. WilsonThe hero of Dickens's flamboyantly exuberant novel, Nicholas Nickleby, is left penniless after his father's death and forced to make his own way in the world. His adventures give Dickens the opportunity to portray an extraordinary gallery of rogues and eccentrics: Wackford Squeers, the tyrannical headmaster of Dotheboys Hall; the tragic orphan Smike, rescued by Nicholas; and the gloriously theatrical Mr and Mrs Crummle and their daughter, the 'infant phenomenon'. Nicholas Nickleby is characterized by Dickens's outrage at social injustice, but it also reveals his comic genius at its most unerring. Edited with an Introduction by Mark Ford

Oliver is an orphan living on the dangerous London streets with no one but himself to rely on. Fleeing from poverty and hardship, he falls in with a criminal street gang who will not let him go, however hard he tries to escape. One of the most swiftly moving and unified of Charles Dickens's great novels, Oliver Twist is also famous for its re-creation-through the splendidly realized figures of Fagin, Nancy, the Artful Dodger, and the evil Bill Sikes-of the vast London underworld of pickpockets, thieves, prostitutes, and abandoned children. Victorian critics took Dickens to task for rendering this world in such a compelling, believable way, but readers over the last 150 years have delivered an alternative judgment by making this story of the orphaned Oliver Twist one of its author's most loved works. This edition reprints the original Everyman's introduction by G. K. Chesterton and includes twenty-four illustrations by George Cruikshank.

This fiercely comic tale stands in marked contrast to its genial predecessor, "The Pickwick Papers." Set against London's seedy back street slums, "Oliver Twist" is the saga of a workhouse orphan captured and thrust into a thieves' den, where some of Dickens's most depraved villains preside: the incorrigible Artful Dodger, the murderous bully Sikes, and the terrible Fagin, that treacherous ringleader whose grinning knavery threatens to send them all to the "ghostly gallows." Yet at the heart of this drama is the orphan Oliver, whose unsullied goodness leads him at last to salvation. In 1838 the publication of "Oliver Twist" firmly established the literary eminence of young Dickens. It was, according to Edgar Johnson, "a clarion peal announcing to the world that in Charles Dickens the rejected and forgotten and misused of the world had a champion."

This edition of one of Dickens's earlier novels is based on the accurate Clarendon edition of the text and includes the prefaces to the 1850 and 1867 editions and Dickens's Number Plans.

Study of the genesis of the novel is facilitated by the reproduction of Dickens’ working plans and, for the first time, by some thousands of meticulous textual notes. "Backgrounds" offers all of Dickens’ correspondence about Bleak House as well as contextual materials that document the Victorian controversy over pollution, a theme central to the novel, and present contemporary attitudes toward the government, the courts, and the police, to enhance the setting of the story. Also featured are several hundred annotations which fully elucidate for today’s readers the allusions and topical references in this remarkably allusive Victorian masterpiece. Especially helpful is a clear exposition of the nature of law procedures in the Court of Chancery, which is crucial to an understanding of the central action of the story. "Critical essays" reprinted here include interpretations by G. K. Chesterton, J. Hillis Miller, George Ford, A. O. J. Cockshut, W. J. Harvey, H. M. Daleski, and Ian Ousby.

Take the hard work out of mastering set texts. Use these books as references for understanding, revising, and modelling effective annotation techniques. This A4-sized, full-colour, ready-annotated edition of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is perfect for: Students who struggle to annotate themselves Students who need extra support understanding the text Teachers new to teaching the text Parents/Carers in understanding the text and supporting their children The full text of the novel is set on an easy-to-read cream background with wide margins on every page providing helpful annotations about the key information on that page. This takes the student step-by-step through the novella highlighting useful insights about the characters and plot as well as addressing the main themes and context. At the bottom of each page definitions are supplied to aid the understanding of unusual or archaic language used within the text. At the back of the book students will find a helpful guide to key quotations from the novella. Each quotation will reference where it appears in the novel as a whole and identified with an at-a-glance 'key' symbol. Examination: English Literature Specification: GCSE 9-1 Set Text covered: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Type: Set Text - Complete Annotated About the novel: A powerful and thrilling account of man's dual nature. The mysterious association between respectable Dr Henry Jekyll and despicable lowlife Edward Hyde is a puzzle to Dr Jekyll's friends, including his lawyer Gabriel Utterson. Where Jekyll is sociable, hardworking and pious, Hyde is a violent criminal, a wild hedonist. When Hyde beats a member of Parliament to death, Utterson is determined to discover the ties that bind the two men together. Scholastic have everything you need to succeed with your AQA English Literature examination including study guides, annotation-friendly editions, revision cards and essay planners. Truly the most comprehensive support for GCSE English available!

Marley is dead - there is no doubt about that. But on Christmas Eve night, his ghost appears in front of his miserly business partner, Ebenezer Scrooge. His purpose: to show Scrooge the error of his ways before it is too late. For his old companion has grown so cold and uncharitable that he is almost at the point of no return. With Marley's warning ringing in his ears, Scrooge reluctantly awaits the arrival of three ghosts that will visit him before the light of morning. Each spirit will show him a vision from Christmas past, present and future, forcing Scrooge to confront the reality of what he has become. Cruel, heartless and above all, alone. And unless Scrooge cures his bitterness in time for Christmas Day, his heart may be frozen for good.

Återupptäck julens glädje genom ett urval av tidlösa berättelser som fångar högtidens anda. I denna samling hittar du några av de bästa klassiska texter som skrivits om jul och nyår. Underhållande, glädjefyllda, tankeväckande och stundtals sorgliga noveller eller textstycken som tar med läsaren på en resa bland tomtar, snöklädda skogar, slädfärder, gästabud, julklappar och dopp i grytan. Väck julstämningen till liv genom att läsa stämningsfulla texter från bland andra bröderna Grimm, Selma Lagerlöf, Frans G. Bengtsson, Viktor Rydberg och Charles Dickens. Klassiska berättelser om julen är en vacker bok med texter som passar perfekt under granen.