Charles Dickens

Reprint of the original, first published in 1868.

MARLEY was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door nail. Mind I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile, and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for.

The story of 'A Tale of Two Cities' is set in the late 18th Century in London and Paris, before and during the French Revolution. It was a time when injustice was met by a lust for vengeance, and rarely was a distinction made between the innocent and the guilty. It was published in weekly installments from April 1859 to November 1859 in Dickens's new literary periodical titled 'All the Year Round'. This novel is regarded as one of Dickens's most popular and most innovative works. After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille the aging Dr Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There, two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil lanes of London, they are all drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror and soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine. The book is perhaps best known for its opening lines, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," and for Carton's last speech, in which he says of his replacing Darnay in a prison cell, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known." About the AuthorCharles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.

These classic literary masterpieces help us to remind the spirit of Christmas and celebrate the timeless truths of the holiday season. This collection of Christmas short stories and tales by classic writers features works from Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Mark Twain, and more. A Merry Christmas and Other Christmas Stories: An Anthology of Short Stories Before the Great Tradition of Christmas is a book devoted to be enjoyed by the whole family during the Advent season.

THE TABLE OF CONTENTSBook the First-Recalled to Life I. The Period II. The Mail III. The Night Shadows IV. The Preparation V. The Wine-shop VI. The Shoemaker Book the Second-the Golden Thread I. Five Years Later II. A Sight III. A Disappointment IV. Congratulatory V. The Jackal VI. Hundreds of People VII. Monseigneur in Town VIII. Monseigneur in the Country IX. The Gorgon's Head X. Two Promises XI. A Companion Picture XII. The Fellow of Delicacy XIII. The Fellow of No Delicacy XIV. The Honest Tradesman XV. Knitting XVI. Still Knitting XVII. One Night XVIII. Nine Days XIX. An Opinion XX. A Plea XXI. Echoing Footsteps XXII. The Sea Still Rises XXIII. Fire Rises XXIV. Drawn to the Loadstone RockBook the Third-the Track of a Storm I. In Secret II. The Grindstone III. The Shadow IV. Calm in Storm V. The Wood-Sawyer VI. Triumph VII. A Knock at the Door VIII. A Hand at Cards IX. The Game Made X. The Substance of the Shadow XI. Dusk XII. Darkness XIII. Fifty-two XIV. The Knitting Done XV. The Footsteps Die Out For Ever

Oscar Wildes talented pen tells the story of one mans decline. It is a book considered the most moral of immoral stories. This work has earned its author to overcome the description of a writer and be considered almost as a philosopher. Dorian Gray in exchange for eternal youth delivers his soul and ends up being corrupted by the evil influence of his mentor. Highly recommended for readers of all times and geographies. The fantastic richness finds its most appropriate expression in a luminous and refined style, and the paradox governs and regulates matter and word, scene and dialogue, Wilde tries to show the transfiguration that art operates on reality.

A Christmas Carol, which is a Christmas ghost story, opens up on a frigid Christmas Eve in London, where Ebenezer Scrooge is personified as an unkind man who is rude in his behavior towards his nephew who invited him on Christmas. The novel's main plot is around Ebenezer Scrooge, who meets the spirit of his deceased business partner, who warns him to avoid the same fate as he did while alive. Scrooge was afterward visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, who made him travel through the 3 phases of his life respectively. The ghost of Christmas Future showed him the vision of his own death, which left him terrified. This ghost voyage through the various phases showed him the faults in his ways, causing him to start living a life that was radically different from the one before Christmas Eve. This is a good read that will show you how the morality of man defines his way of life.

This annotated edition includes: Author Biography and Images. Little Dorrit is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Clennam encounters her after returning home from a 20-year absence, ready to begin his life anew. THIS BOOK IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN OF AFFECTION Many moons ago, an author was inspired to create this book. Today, we cannot repay them, but we can pay it forward. With great affection for the written word, we can use these public domain works to fund programs for young authors. As you read these books, you support the next generation of authors. It's one way words help inspire. Read more at AuthoriseBooks.com/PDA. THE WORDS OF YESTERDAY, HELP THE READERS OF TODAY, INSPIRE THE AUTHORS OF TOMORROW.

This annotated edition includes: Author Biography and Images. Great Expectations is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (the book is a bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story). It is Dickens's second novel, after David Copperfield, to be fully narrated in the first person. The novel was first published as a serial in Dickens's weekly periodical All the Year Round, from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. In October 1861, Chapman and Hall published the novel in three volumes. THIS BOOK IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN OF AFFECTION Many moons ago, an author was inspired to create this book. Today, we cannot repay them, but we can pay it forward. With great affection for the written word, we can use these public domain works to fund programs for young authors. As you read these books, you support the next generation of authors. It's one way words help inspire. Read more at AuthoriseBooks.com/PDA. THE WORDS OF YESTERDAY, HELP THE READERS OF TODAY, INSPIRE THE AUTHORS OF TOMORROW.