Charles Dickens and His Circle

Book excerpt: Historian and writer Lucinda Hawksley explores the life of her great-great-great-grandfather, Charles Dickens - one of the first people to whom the term 'celebrity' in its modern sense was applied, and whose extensive circle of friends and associates embraced many of the most eminent and influential figures of the Victorian age ... Through sheer force of will he propelled himself out of a rather depressing existence into the circle of intelligent, radical, questioning friends who feature in this book. Guests at his parties could expect to meet actors, artists, radical politicians, prison reformers, philanthropists and musicians, as well as writers ... llustrated with images from the Collection of the National Portrait Gallery, this book explores the man behind the novels and the lives of those around him.