Palgrave Advances in Charles Dickens Studies is an up-to-the-minute guide to the study of one of the most important Victorian novelists. Its editors, Robert L. Patten and John Bowen are leading authorities on Dickens, and the international team of contributors they have assembled contains some of the most exciting critics of nineteenth-century fiction writing today. The book covers the whole range of Dickens's writing and criticism about it, including biographical, theoretical and historical approaches. It is based on the latest research and written in a lively and engaging way, bringing readers a comprehensive guide to the most important contemporary work on this most popular of Victorian novelists. It covers not only Dickens's celebrated novels but also a wide range of his other writing, including his work in journalism and theatre. Wide-ranging, lucid and authoritative, this is an indispensable work for all students and teachers of Dickens and the nineteenth-century novel.