Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) has created some of the world’s best known fictional characters and is generally regarded as one of the greatest novelists of all time. Dickens left school at the age of 12, after his father was sent to Debtor’s Prison. He began his literary career as a journalist, and produced his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, at the age of 24. His stories were usually published in serial form and sold in weekly journals. With popular success after popular success, Dickens became extremely wealthy and a lauded celebrity during his lifetime.

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