In every book I know, where such characters are treated of, allurements and fascinations are thrown around them. It appeared to me that to draw a knot of such associates in crime as really did exist to paint them in all their deformity, in all their wretchedness, in all the squalid misery of their lives to show them as they really were, for ever skulking uneasily through the dirtiest paths of life, with the great black ghastly gallows closing up their prospect, turn them where they might it appeared to me that to do this, would be to attempt a something which was needed, and which would be a service to society.

But I had never met (except in HOGARTH) with the miserable reality.

I had read of thieves by scores seductive fellows (amiable for the most part), faultless in dress, plump in pocket, choice in horseflesh, bold in bearing, fortunate in gallantry, great at a song, a bottle, pack of cards or dice-box, and fit companions for the bravest. I saw many strong reasons for pursuing my course. Unbeknownst to him, the circumstances of his birth are not as simple as they appear, and a chance encounter with a kindly benefactor may be his salvation if he can escape the clutches of the criminal underworld of London.ĭickens’ second novel, published in 1838, would become one of his most beloved, remaining in print around the world for nearly two centuries and inspiring countless adaptations and homages.Once upon a time it was held to be a coarse and shocking circumstance, that some of the characters in these pages are chosen from the most criminal and degraded of London’s population.Īs I saw no reason, when I wrote this book, why the dregs of life (so long as their speech did not offend the ear) should not serve the purpose of a moral, as well as its froth and cream, I made bold to believe that this same Once upon a time would not prove to be All-time or even a long time. Though Fagin, Bill Sikes, the Artful Dodger, and the other assorted pickpockets, house-breakers, cut-throats, and fallen women try their best to corrupt young Oliver, his innate goodness won’t allow him to fall under their spell. Oliver Twist, a poor orphan raised in a workhouse in Victorian England, escapes his cruel fate and flees to London, only to be taken in by a gang of criminals led by the villainous Fagin. Pailthorpe a helpful introduction and a detailed author bio. This Top Five Classics illustrated edition of Dickens’s timeless classic Oliver Twist includes the complete, unabridged text (from the final edition Dickens oversaw in 1865) 44 full-color illustrations by George Cruikshank and Frederick W.

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