harles Dickens. First published one year after "A Christmas Carol" in 1844, it represents the second of his famous "Christmas books", which include "A Christmas Carol", "The Cricket on the Hearth", "The Battle of Life", and "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain". After poor working-class man Trotty loses his faith in humanity, he is visited one new year's eve by a band of spirits who attempt to restore his hope and belief in the goodness of mankind. Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic famous for having created some of the world's most well-known fictional characters. His works became unprecedentedly popular during his life, and today he is commonly regarded as the greatest Victorian-era novelist. Although perhaps better known for such works as "Great Expectations" or "A Christmas Carol", Dickens first gained success with the 1836 serial publication of "The Pickwick Papers", which turned him almost overnight into an international literary celebrity thanks to his humour, satire, and astute observations concerning society and character. This classic work is being republished now in a new edition complete with an introductory chapter from "Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens" by G. K. Chesterton.