Charles Dickens

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Discussed in connection with Restoration House in Rochester, which Dickens reportedly used as the inspiration for Miss Havisham's Satis House. Dominic also mentioned winning a school reading competition four years in a row with its opening passage.

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Referenced when discussing the character Pip visiting Mr. Jaggers' offices near Smithfield - 'And one of them is Pip in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, who, when he comes to London, goes to the offices of Mr. Jaggers.'

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Mentioned as Dickens' last novel, which he never completed, noting that Rochester is the setting (called 'Cloisterham' in the book) and that the character John Jasper lived on one of the gates below Rochester Castle.

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Mentioned as Dickens' last unfinished novel, notable for featuring a murder that takes place on Christmas. The hosts cite it as evidence that Christmas was a theme running throughout Dickens' entire literary career, from Sketches by Boz to his final work.

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Referenced when Tom compares Caligula's behavior of contorting his face in the mirror to make it more fearsome to 'the malevolent dwarf Quilp in Charles Dickens' old curiosity shop.'

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Referenced when comparing Tiny Tim to the character Little Nell. The hosts note that Little Nell's death had famously caused a 'universe of weeping and wailing,' with Americans waiting at the quayside for the next installment, and that Oscar Wilde famously mocked the sentimentality. Tiny Tim is described as essentially a similar sentimental figure to Little Nell.

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A passage from this 1841 novel is read aloud describing the industrial landscape of the Black Country, with tall chimneys, smoke, and strange engines. Used to illustrate Victorian literary depictions of industrialization.

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The episode opens with a quotation from this novel describing the guillotine. The hosts use it to introduce the topic of the guillotine as a symbol of the French Revolution in the English-speaking world.

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Referenced alongside Burke and Carlyle as British writers who told the French Revolution story through the perspective of the aristocracy: 'They love to tell the story through the eyes, you know, with a sense of horror, fascinated horror at the revolution.'

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Referenced when discussing stereotypes and caricatures of the French Revolution and the French elite, suggesting that if one had read this book, they might have incorrect assumptions about the aristocracy's response to the crisis.

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Described as 'one of the most influential books on our perception of history that has ever been written' regarding the French Revolution

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Referenced alongside Pride and Prejudice as having a famous opening and noted as having 'quite a political resonance'

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One host mentions reading it during the COVID lockdown Christmas, having not read it since school when he hadn't enjoyed it. He describes being 'literally in tears at the end,' using it as an example of how middle age has made him more receptive to Dickens' sentimentality rather than cynically dismissive of it.

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Briefly referenced as having quotations appear in The Dark Knight Rises Batman film, mentioned in context of discussing the politics of superhero narratives

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Mentioned as representing the British/Dickensian view of the French Revolution, and referenced as the book Margaret Thatcher gave to Mitterrand at the bicentenary

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Argued to be the single most influential novel on how English-speaking world understands the French Revolution

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Tom mentions reading it 'for the first time since school' before Christmas, discussing how Dickens explains the French Revolution as a kind of conspiracy

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The hosts read an extended passage from this 1836 novel depicting an election scene in the fictional East Anglian town of Eton Swill (based on Bury St. Edmunds). They use it to introduce their discussion of the history of election campaigns, noting that Dickens had been a parliamentary reporter and held contempt for politicians throughout his life.

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Tom compares the staccato style of Goebbels' diary entry to the character Alfred Jingle from this Dickens novel

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Mentioned as one of Dickens' earlier successful books that had established his reputation before A Christmas Carol. The hosts note that despite these earlier successes, Dickens was under financial pressure when he wrote A Christmas Carol because his most recent book had underperformed.

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Mentioned when discussing the Marshalsea prison in Southwark, noting that 'Dickens' father ends up being in prison there' - the novel Little Dorrit features this prison prominently.

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Mentioned in comparison to the lengthy court case, with reference to 'Jandice and Jandice' (Jarndyce and Jarndyce). The hosts ask if Dickens had already written Bleak House at this point, noting it was published about 20 years before the Tichborne trial.

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Referenced in connection with the character Mr. Turvey Drop and the dancing school that once operated in the Lady Chapel space - 'And then, Mr. Turvey Drop, isn't it? Yeah, that's right. From Bleak House.'

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Mentioned for the character of Inspector Bucket as an example of Dickens being a great progenitor of detective fiction. The hosts contrast Dickens's portrayal of evil — always expressed physically through dwarfism, hunchbacks, etc. — with Christie's innovation of making evil people appear completely normal and well-adjusted.

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Referenced when discussing how dinosaurs were cutting-edge in Victorian times. Tom notes that 'in Bleak House, in the opening paragraph, Dickens fixes on... the mists that are kind of filling London. And he says that it wouldn't be a surprise to see a megalosaurus walking up Hoban Hill' - described as a 'cutting edge reference' for the time.

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Mentioned for introducing Inspector Bucket as a prototype for later detective characters

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Referenced indirectly through the character Bill Sykes when discussing how Wilde's punishment would be worse for him than 'for a Bill Sykes' - the murderer from the Dickens novel.

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Extensively discussed as the hosts visit Saffron Hill, the location of Fagin's lair in the novel. A passage is read aloud describing Oliver's first impressions of the area.

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Mentioned as one of Dickens' earlier successful books before A Christmas Carol. Also referenced specifically when the hosts note that Saffron Hill, where Dickens visited a ragged school before writing A Christmas Carol, is where Fagin hangs out with the pickpockets in Oliver Twist.

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Mentioned as a novel Dickens was writing: 'he's writing a novel called Martin Chuzzlewit' in which he sends his hero to America, with chapters that caused offense to Americans.

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Described as Dickens' most recent book before A Christmas Carol and characterized as 'a bit of a failure.' The hosts explain that its poor reception, combined with his wife expecting another baby and publishers threatening to pay him less, motivated Dickens to write something commercially successful, leading directly to A Christmas Carol. Also connected to Dickens' 1842 trip to America, where he visited a Pittsburgh penitentiary and had the idea of a prisoner being visited by ghosts.

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Explicitly mentioned as one of the books Dickens wrote after his American trip that 'cause immense upset in America,' described as 'basically a description of his journey' with 'a vituperative attack on the institution of slavery.'

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Referenced at the beginning of the episode as Dickens' 'brilliant account of a travel across the continent' describing his impressions of Rome and Italy.

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Tom mentions 'one of the other famous passages from Victorian literature describing this process is at the beginning of Dombey and Son, where Dickens describes the railway going through Camden and the kind of process of destruction.'

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Briefly mentioned in connection with discussion of the Gordon Riots as a comparison point for religious violence in London

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Extensively discussed as one of the most beloved Victorian ghost stories, with details about its publication history, adaptation count, and the church locations featured in the story

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The central subject of the entire podcast episode. The hosts walk through London locations associated with the story, discuss its origins in Dickens' personal and financial circumstances in 1843, analyze its characters (Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, Marley), read extensive passages aloud, and debate its political meaning as a conservative rather than radical critique of Victorian inequality. They argue it is likely the most adapted story in the English language and discuss why its fairy-tale quality and moral simplicity have made it enduringly popular.

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Extensively discussed as crucial to the modern understanding of Christmas, published in 1843. The hosts discuss how it created the template for Christmas celebrations, the Cratchit family scenes, Scrooge's transformation, and note the Muppet version as the best adaptation

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Mentioned as 'one of the great ghost stories ever' when discussing Dickens' complex relationship with the supernatural. The hosts note it demonstrates that despite being a skeptical 19th-century man, Dickens was genuinely fascinated by ghosts and death. They also praise the 1970s TV adaptation starring Denholm Elliott as 'absolutely superb.'

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Mentioned as one of Dickens' earlier successful books that had established his literary reputation before A Christmas Carol, listed alongside Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist.

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Mentioned as Dickens' very first published work, with the hosts noting that it included a sketch about Christmas, establishing that Christmas was a theme running through Dickens' entire career from his earliest writing to his last unfinished novel.

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Referenced when discussing Henry VIII - Dickens is quoted calling Henry VIII 'a most intolerable ruffian, a disgrace to human nature, and a blot of blood and grease upon the history of England.'

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Referenced in discussion of Little Emily as an example of the 'fallen woman' who 'still remains pure' - used to discuss Victorian attitudes toward sexuality and fallen women