The inimitable Charles Dickens is regarded by many as the finest novelist of the Victorian era. His ability to weave magic with words makes him as popular as ever. Born in 1812 in what many would describe as humble circumstances, he went on to create some of the world-s best-known fictional characters in his impressive collection of novels.It is a testament to his huge following that when he died just over 150 years ago in June 1870, his grave at Westminster Abbey was kept open for three days so the many thousands of people who mourned his passing could pay their last respects.It has been said that Dickens- geographical knowledge of London was both extensive and encyclopaedic; he knew it all, from Bow to Brentford. He drew his knowledge from experience: he visited the magistrates- courts, observed the poverty and injustice of the workhouses and prisons, and was a hearty campaigner for the wretched and downtrodden. Here was the man who brought Scrooge to the Christmas table, and he neve
