Why the World Still Loves Charles Dickens

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. You might be interested in this, then.

Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens.

"This guide is a boon to understanding Dickens's life, work, ideas, and times. The alphabetically arranged entries include such topics as "amusements and recreation," "industry," "London," and "prisons and penal transportation."
The writer's major works are also discussed, focusing on their inception and composition; publishing history; illustrations (in the original editions); sources and historical context; and plots, characters, and themes.
Many of the signed articles include a bibliography. Black-and-white photographs, reproductions, and four maps accompany the text.
Appendixes include a general bibliography, an alphabetical list of characters noting the work in which they appear, and a subject index.
While there are other companions to the author's work, this is the most comprehensive.

http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Readers-Companion-Dickens-Schlicke/dp/0198662130/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418879634&sr=1-2&keywords=oxford+companion+dickens

You can buy new for 106 bucks
or, as I did, get a used hardbound LIKE NEW for 4.00. Maybe 4.65 now.

I also got the Oxford Companion to Trollope, same great price of 4.00 for a like new hardbound.

Why?
because Tollope and Dickens were prolific writers of their times, and it helps to know the social background of the stories, to understand what was so crucial in the plots, and what words meant in the time period they were used.
Like so many other people, I enjoy the Victorian period in England, and fortunately there are resources that gives all sorts of helpful details to further understanding of the times.
Both books are on the breakfast table, I browse with my morning coffee.