The Cambridge Companion to Charles Dickens contains fourteen chapters by leading international scholars that cover the whole range of Dickens' writing. Separate chapters address important thematic topics: childhood, the city, and domestic ideology. Others consider formal features of the novels, including their serial publication and Dickens' distinctive use of language. The volume as a whole offers a valuable introduction to Dickens for students and general readers, as well as fresh insights, informed by recent critical theory, that will be of interest to scholars and teachers of his novels.