Take a tour of Charles Dickens' London

Dickens' childhood job influenced his novels

After his father was imprisoned, Dickens took up work in a shoe-blacking factory. His novels often featured hardscrabble protagonists, many of them children, forced to navigate the grim realities of the Industrial Revolution. Today, stories that follow in that model are described as "Dickensian."

When Dickens was 12, his father was imprisoned for debt

John Dickens was imprisoned at Marshalsea Debtors' Prison in London for failing to pay his debts. The experience forced the young Charles to leave school to help provide for his family. It also eventually informed his fiction, which often called for social reform, including the abolition of debtors' prisons.

Charles Dickens transformed Christmas into an important family-centric holiday

When Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol" in 1843, its story of an old man's redemption helped reshape the holiday, popularizing themes of generosity, reflection, and family that transformed the Christmas season.

Read the works of Charles Dickens

Dickens' work has long been in the public domain, meaning it's freely available to readers. Project Gutenberg's collection of Dickens' novels allows you to read classic novels like "Oliver Twist" and "A Tale of Two Cities," as well as early works like "Sketches by Boz," at no cost.

After finding success as a novelist, Dickens started his own newspaper

Dickens made enough from "Sketches by Boz," "The Pickwick Papers," and "Oliver Twist," that he was able to work full time as a novelist. Still, he was still interested in journalism and decided to publish his own newspaper, the Daily News, in 1846. After 17 issues, he felt he no longer had time to focus on his novels and handed the operation off to a friend.

A teenage Dickens found work as a political journalist

Dickens found work as a reporter for the Mirror of Parliament, a weekly newspaper focused on the British legislature. After a few years, he moved to the Morning Chronicle, where he began producing his creative work. Professor John Drew, author of "Dickens, the Journalist," said that the writer "realized he could wield a much more direct, if not more glamorous kind of power, by using his position as a leading writer of fiction and a magazine editor."

Scholars believe Dickens wrote over a million words of nonfiction

The author began writing professionally in his teens, first as a court reporter, then for many papers, penning op-eds, criticism, and other miscellany. While Dickens is often discussed as a novelist, he has a massive corpus of works situated in reality.

Despite his sometimes caustic satire, Dickens was ultimately an optimist

Michael Slater, a professor of Victorian literature at Birkbeck College, notes that Dickens' anger at Parliament and social injustice never got in the way of his optimism. "There is a constant allegiance to the lives of ordinary people and their pleasures," he said in a 2001 interview with "In Our Time."

Dickens' live readings sometimes used visual projectors that predated cinema

Dickens was interested in adapting his work in various forms. With his live readings, he sometimes used a 'magical lantern,' a popular tool that projected moving slides. In addition, some stage plays of Dickens' work that included ghost scenes used the magical lantern to cast apparitions on stage.

Dickens' first novel was a satire informed by his reporting

"The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club" was a series of illustrations and accompanying stories serialized in newspapers from 1836 to 1837. Dickens drew on his previous experiences as a Parliamentary reporter to flesh out the story of Samuel Slumkey, a politician running for office. He wins the election thanks to a well-timed bribe.

The best adaptations of Dickens' books

There have been over 300 screen adaptations of Dickens' works, including 50 of "A Christmas Carol" alone. This list breaks down the best of the bunch, with nods to the Gen X "Great Expectations," the musical rendition of "Oliver Twist," and Dev Patel's take on "David Copperfield."

A virtual tour of Jane Austen's England

This immersive slide show, assembled by the Morgan Library and Museum, takes you through scenes that inspired "Emma," "Northanger Abbey," and "Persuasion," as well as the estates where the 1995 BBC adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice" was shot, along with a few other important locations from Austen's world.

Fans loved a minor character, so Dickens made him a major part of 'Pickwick'

Dickens' first serialized novel, "The Pickwick Papers," was selling modestly until he introduced the wisecracking Sam Weller, a cockney character that working-class readers instantly loved. In response to the attention, Dickens made Weller a central figure in the book, turning the series into a bestseller.

Dickens' earliest pieces were under the pseudonym 'Boz'

Dickens began working as a journalist in 1829, publishing his portraits of modern life under a pseudonym. In 1834, he used the pen name "Boz," a reference to his brother's childhood nickname, and eventually published a collection of his stories called "Sketches by Boz." By the 1840s, he'd ditched the pseudonym, enjoying his rarefied literary celebrity.

Dickens' 'Christmas Carol' emphasized charity as central component of the holiday

During Dickens' time, Christmas was primarily associated with celebration, but "A Christmas Carol" defined the holiday as an opportunity to give to others. Dickens hoped that the story—with the miserly Scrooge experiencing a change of heart when he realizes he should care for the less fortunate—would convince readers to recognize they should do the same.

None of Dickens' books has gone out of print

Dickens was a literary celebrity during his lifetime, but his popularity has endured over a century after his death. Publishers have kept his books in print to satisfy demand. It's paid off: "A Tale of Two Cities" alone has sold over 200 million copies.

Dickens performed 'A Christmas Carol' over 100 times

The writer began performing readings of his works in 1853 and chose 'A Christmas Carol' for the inaugural event. In the 16 years that followed, he performed it over 100 times, using different voices for his characters and consistently revising the text for the stage.

Dickens wrote his books as they were serialized in newspapers

Dickens, like many Victorian writers, published his novels as serials that were released piecemeal, over an extended period. Unlike most of his contemporaries, though, Dickens wrote the story as it was released, allowing him to respond to public reactions.

'A Christmas Carol' was originally going to be a political pamphlet

Dickens planned to write a treatise on the day's social issues and had a particularly dry working title: "An Appeal to the People of England on behalf of the Poor Man's Child." After a week, though, he decided to rework the ideas into a fictional story, working at a quick pace so it could be released in time for Christmas. It worked: The story was published on December 19, 1843.

Charles Dickens legally separated from his wife, then tried to have her committed to a mental asylum.

Take a virtual tour of Mark Twain's Connecticut mansion.

Charles Dickens' novels inspired a young Norman Rockwell

Rockwell is considered a narrative painter who tells stories through his portraits of everyday Americans. The interest in using images to tell stories began at a young age, when his father read Dickens aloud to him while the young Norman illustrated the books’ scenes.

'The Dark Night Rises' was inspired by 'A Tale of Two Cities'

The 2012 Batman film makes several allusions to the Dickens novel, with one character even holding a copy of the book in a final scene. Director Christopher Nolan and his brother (and screenwriter) Jonathan Nolan frame Gotham as a place of inequity, much like Dickens does with London and Paris. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Thomas Cook invented modern tourism in the 19th century by creating package tours and travel guides for aspiring travelers.

Explore a collection of famous literary maps, including original images from 'Treasure Island,' 'The Swiss Family Robinson, ' and 'Walden.'

Jane Austen was unhappy in the city of Bath, but it inspired some of her books

In 1801, Austen's father retired and abruptly moved the family from Steventon to Bath. Austen loathed her new home, but she used it as the setting for pieces of her novels "Persuasion" and "Northanger Abbey." "The scandals and shallowness of the city fueled her cynicism and wit; nothing escaped her scathing pen," an exhibition on Austen from the Bath Preservation Trust explained.

Take a video tour of Wall Street's historic architecture, guided by a professional architect.

How Monet’s paintings changed the way we see London

Between 1899 and 1901, legendary French Impressionist painter Claude Monet produced over 100 paintings of London consistently shrouded in fog. Art historians claim this series left a permanent mark on how we perceive the capital city, inevitably layered in obscuring and dramatic mist. See some of the paintings and read more here.

Explore the British Museum's Pompeii and Herculaneum collection

This video tour utilizes the British Museum’s collection—featuring frescoes, tools, cookware, jewelry, and even carbonized food—to reconstruct daily life in Pompeii and Herculaneum, offering an expert view of how people lived before the eruption transformed both cities.

The novel broke new ground by offering realistic stories

In this brief interview, Terry Castle, an English professor at Stanford, explains the origins of the early British novel. Castle details how the novel was produced for a newly literate middle class interested in recognizable characters and stories “about life as they knew it” rather than Greek and Roman myths or medieval romances. She also explains why a newly enfranchised female demographic was attracted to the fiction of writers like Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf.

A scientific analysis of famous time travel stories

This 8-minute video explores how time travel influences the narrative arc of several movies, books and video games, from Harry Potter to A Christmas Carol. (Warning: it contains spoilers!) J.K. Rowling and Charles Dickens set myriad parameters as they’re worldbuilding to avoid paradoxes and create quasi-logical timelines. By drawing diagrams as he’s speaking, the video breaks down how time works in some of popular culture’s most beloved fictional universes.

For centuries, European aristocrats made travel a rite of passage with 'Grand Tours' of the continent.

The archaeological sites uncovered through London's Crossrail Project

The Crossrail Project is an underground train system in London, which saw 26 miles of new tunnels created over more than a decade. The project provided unique access to long-buried layers of London's history, and a massive parallel archaeological excavation took place.

Twain read (and lampooned) classic literature

Ever the ironist, Twain claimed to have “ no liking for novels or stories.” Obviously, that was untrue: He read widely, devouring books by Charles Dickens, slave narratives, and texts on astronomy. He also loved John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” which he called “something everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.”

See a data visualization of the East India Company's trade

This tool visualizes the East India Company’s trade from 1760 to 1834, letting you track shipments of tea, textiles, metals, and more. Users can sort by commodity, origin, destination, and date to see London’s vast imperial supply network that shaped the British Empire.

Maps of murder across medieval England

These interactive maps show the sites of murders across York, Oxford, and London during the 14th Century. Explore the data by clicking site pins or experimenting with map filters, including crime scene type and murder weapon. Each pin includes a blurb on what researchers concluded about the attack, such as how a fight between the London fishmonger and skinner guilds during August 1340 ultimately left one man dead.

King sets many of his stories in Maine

In the process, he has created a few fictional towns. This extensive travelogue by a superfan explores the writer's favorite haunts, pinpointing specific details from and inspirations for King's fiction. Helpfully, it also provides plenty of photos, allowing you to venture through King's haunted version of the state without ever leaving the comfort of your home.

A virtual tour of Philadelphia’s American Revolution Museum

Philadelphia’s Old City hosts one of the largest museums on the American Revolution. This virtual tour allows you to view the museum’s exhibits as if you were there by zooming in on descriptions, browsing images, and learning about artifacts, portraits, and more.

Cook’s ‘Travellers Handbooks’ were precursors to the travel guide

Long before Rick Steves or Lonely Planet, Thomas Cook’s “Travellers Handbooks” offered maps, recommendations, and tips for 19th-century tourists in unfamiliar locations.

Writer Washington Irving was the first to call New York City 'Gotham,' referencing an Anglo-Saxon word for a village of fools.

Explore a gallery of electric vehicles from before 1920

In 1884, Thomas Parker invented the first practical electric car in London. By the turn of the century, early EVs were seen on the streets of Washington, DC. Automaker promotional materials included photographs of cars on mountain roads and other terrains.

Charles Dickens' pet raven likely inspired Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Raven.'

View a timeline of Jane Austen's life

Austen was born in 1775 and died in 1817. In that time, she wrote six novels that have gone on to become some of the most celebrated in the English language. This timeline allows you to see the events that shaped her writing, from her informal education at a young age to the illness that eventually took her life.

'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' was inspired by a real-life Alice, the daughter of Lewis Carroll's friends.

The myths around London's tiniest sculpture

The Philpot Lane mice have been considered London's smallest sculpture for decades, delighting visitors and locals alike. But there's a common story told for why the unusual sculpture—which features two mice fighting for a piece of cheese—was placed there, saying it commemorated the death of a construction worker fighting over a lunch in the 1800s. The author of this article argues the evidence for such a story is lacking. Dive into the obscure history here.

The history of the British Empire—all in a single take

This video delivers a rapid, rhyming walk-through of the British Empire—filmed in one continuous shot aboard a sailing ship and featuring costumed actors portraying figures from Sir Francis Drake to Pocahontas.

A timeline of colonial settlement

An overview of early American settlement, beginning with the London Company's expedition to Virginia. Source includes a number of citations for further reading.

Explore the British Museum's collection across time and continents in this interactive Google Arts and Culture experience.

Read a 19th-century guide to writing a Valentine's Day card

Thomas Richardson's "London Fashionable Gentleman's Valentine Writer" offers readers romantic messages they can send to the objects of their eyes—along with some chippy kiss-offs for unwanted suitors. It might be sincere, or it might be satire. Either way, it's an entertaining read. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Essential pipes, sewers, and cables lie buried beneath New York City

The Department of Design and Construction offers a tour of its work sites, explaining the complex systems that exist underground. Gas, electrical, telecom pipes, and many others, sprawl out underneath the entire city, with dozens of maps that help workers know where they're placed. This layout is unusual compared to the rest of the country, where wires are often present and visible above ground.