Everybody loves Dickens. A few of the hardcore fans even read his books, but most people are content to enjoy the lavish BBC adaptations, denuded of any of that nasty, dense prose that makes them take more than a week to

In a speech on reading, Nick Gibb said that despite two centuries of technological and social revolution, there were "still shadows of Charles Dickens's world in our own". He said that, just as in Victorian times, literacy problems were still "heavily

Everybody loves Dickens. A few of the hardcore fans even read his books, but most people are content to enjoy the lavish BBC adaptations, denuded of any of that nasty, dense prose that makes them take more than a week to

Today marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birthday (born February 7, 1812). To celebrate the life and work of one of the world's greatest storytellers, the Google doodle team created this fantastic celebratory

While you're soaking up the thriving contemporary theater, art, and design scenes, take a day to step back into the crowded, foggy London of the 19th century—and wish Victorian novelist Charles Dickens a happy birthday.