Author Description

A forlorn young woman dies giving birth to a baby boy in the squalid surroundings of a parish workhouse. From the moment he draws his first breath, the orphaned Oliver Twist is at the mercy ofa brutal system, expected to endure his wretched lot "without the inconvenience of too much food, or too much clothing". Dickens' tale of an innocent abroad in a hostile world grips from the first page. It introduces some of the author's most memorable characters: pompous, tyrannical beadle Mr Bumble; the Artful Dodger, head of Fagin's juvenile pickpocket ring; vicious housebreaker Bill Sikes; and Nancy, the one inhabitant of Fagin's lair with a conscience. Oliver Twist is a timeless story of vice and virtue, the realisation of Dickens' vision to show "Good surviving through every adverse circumstance". It shocked many when it first appeared in 1837, and has lost none of its power to incite pity and anger at how a child can be allowed to fall through society's cracks. This sumptuous edition of Dickens' enduringly popular novel features illustrations by George Cruikshank, whose artwork adorned the pages of Bentley's Miscellany, the magazine in which Oliver Twist was first serialised; and by James Mahoney, another prominent Victorian-era illustrator of Dickens' work. There are also etchings of 19th century London, evoking the capital Dickens knew so intimately; both the refined quarters and the less salubrious districts where the real-life Fagins and Sikeses conducted their nefarious business.