Penguin Random House, author portrait placeholder image

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was born in a little house in Landport, Portsea, England, on February 7, 1812. The second of eight children, he grew up in a family frequently beset by financial insecurity. When the family fortunes improved, Charles went back to school, after which he became an office boy, a freelance reporter, and finally an author. With Pickwick Papers (1836–37) he achieved immediate fame. In a few years he was easily the most popular and respected writer of his time. It has been estimated that one out of every ten persons in Victorian England was a Dickens reader. Oliver Twist (1837), Nicholas Nickleby (1838–39), and The Old Curiosity Shop (1840-41) were huge successes. Martin Chuzzlewit (1843–44) was less so, but Dickens followed it with his unforgettable, A Christmas Carol (1843), Bleak House (1852–53), Hard Times (1854), and Little Dorrit (1855–57), which reveal his deepening concern for the injustices of British society. A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860–61), and Our Mutual Friend (1864–65) complete his major works.
A Christmas Carol
Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol
Scrooge #worstgiftever
David Copperfield
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
The Pickwick Papers
Great Expectations (Movie Tie-In)
Great Expectations
Great Expectations
Oliver Twist
David Copperfield
Great Expectations
Hard Times
Bleak House
A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Stories
A Christmas Carol
Major Works of Charles Dickens (Penguin Classics hardcover boxed set)
Hard Times
Bleak House
A Tale of Two Cities
Bleak House
Great Expectations
A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations (Bantam Classics Editions)
A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations (Oprah's Book Club)
A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings
Oliver Twist
A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
A Tale of Two Cities
Great Expectations
A Christmas Carol
Hard Times
Oliver Twist
A Tale of Two Cities

Books

A Christmas Carol
Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol
Scrooge #worstgiftever
David Copperfield
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
The Pickwick Papers
Great Expectations (Movie Tie-In)
Great Expectations
Great Expectations
Oliver Twist
David Copperfield
Great Expectations
Hard Times
Bleak House
A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Stories
A Christmas Carol
Major Works of Charles Dickens (Penguin Classics hardcover boxed set)
Hard Times
Bleak House
A Tale of Two Cities
Bleak House
Great Expectations
A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations (Bantam Classics Editions)
A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations (Oprah's Book Club)
A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings
Oliver Twist
A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
A Tale of Two Cities
Great Expectations
A Christmas Carol
Hard Times
Oliver Twist
A Tale of Two Cities

Around the World in 80 Books

On November 9, 2021, the Penguin Press will publish AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BOOKS: A Literary Journey. 

Inspired by Jules Verne’s hero Phileas Fogg, author David Damrosch, chair of Harvard University’s department of comparative literature and founder of Harvard’s Institute for World Literature, set out to counter a pandemic’s restrictions on travel by exploring eighty exceptional books from around the globe. Following a literary itinerary from London to Venice, Tehran and points beyond, and via authors from Woolf and Dante to Nobel Prize–winners Orhan Pamuk, Wole Soyinka, Mo Yan, and Olga Tokarczuk, he explores how these works have shaped our idea of the world, and the ways in which the world bleeds into literature.

Read more