Charles Dickens (1812-1870) remains one of the most popular of all English novelists. Many of his characters have become proverbial: Mr Micawber for naive optimism, Wackford Squeers for harsh school discipline, Uriah Heep for false humility, and of course Ebenezer Scrooge for misanthropy. His stories were one of the chief driving forces behind rising literacy in the Victorian age, and changes in public policy from schools to welfare and sanitation. All was done with charm, humour and common sense.
