The Shorter Novels of Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist / Hard Times / A Tale of Two Cities / Great Expectations

This collection brings together perhaps the finest of Dickens' shorter novels, filled with event, character, and the unsurpassed brilliance of his story-telling. Oliver Twist enhanced and strengthened Dickens' reputation and contains classic Dickensian themes - grinding poverty, desperation, fear, temptation and the eventual triumph of good in the face of great adversity. Hard Times was attacked by Macaulay for its 'sullen socialism', but 20th-century critics - George Bernard Shaw and F.R. Leavis praised it in the highest terms. A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens' greatest historical novel, traces the lives of a group of people caught up in the cataclysm of the French Revolution and the Terror. A fascinating range of characters and Dickens' usual superb command of language combine to make this an exciting and tantalising story. Great Expectations traces the life of Philip Pirrip (Pip), from a boy of shallow dreams to a man of character. From its dramatic opening on the bleak Kentish marshes, the story abounds with memorable characters - the blacksmith Joe Gargery, the mysterious convict Abel Magwitch, the eccentric Miss Havisham and the beautiful Estella.