A scathing portrait of Victorian industrial society and its misapplied utilitarian philosophy, ''Hard Times'' is a daring novel of ideas--and ultimately a celebration of love, hope, and limitless possibilities of the imagination. Revised reissue.


Hard Times is Dickens's shortest novel, and arguably his greatest triumph. A useful appendix of the author's working notes, together with an enlightening introduction and full explanatory notes, will ensure that this edition becomes the obvious choice for anyone studying the novel.

Paul Schlike is Lecturer in English at the University of Aberdeen.