Oliver Twist

Orphaned at birth and raised in a workhouse, Oliver Twist asks for more and is punished for it. He runs away to London, where he falls in with a gang of young pickpockets led by the cunning old man Fagin. So begins a story of crime, cruelty and unexpected kindness that has gripped readers for nearly two centuries.

Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist as a furious response to the New Poor Law of 1834, which treated poverty as a moral failing. The novel blends social protest with mystery, melodrama and comedy, and it introduced some of the most memorable characters in English fiction: the Artful Dodger, Bill Sikes, Nancy and Mr. Bumble. It is a book about a child's survival in a hostile city, and about the difference between respectability and real goodness.

This edition is for anyone who wants to read the novel with a little help at hand. It contains the complete text, a new introduction, a character guide, a summary of the plot, a note on themes, a glossary of period words and phrases, and questions for discussion. Whether you are studying the novel or reading it for pleasure, these materials are designed to deepen your enjoyment without getting in the way of Dickens's story.