A Companion to Charles Dickens concentrates on the historical, ideological, and social forces that defined Dickens's world. * Puts Dickens's work into its literary, historical, and social contexts * Traces the development of Dickens's career as a journalist and novelist * Includes original essays by leading Dickensian scholars on each of Dickens's fifteen novels * Explores a broad range of topics, including criticisms of his novels, the use of history and law in his fiction, language, and the effect of political and social reform * Examines Dickens's legacy and surveys the mass of secondary materials that has been generated in response and reverence to his writing