Christmas carol: the festive classic

"On December 19, 1843, Dickens published A Christmas Carol, one of his most timeless and beloved works. The book features the famous protagonist Ebenezer Scrooge, a curmudgeonly old miser who--with the help of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come--finds the holiday spirit.

Like the earlier works by Dickens, it was intended as a social criticism, to bring attention to the hardships faced by England's poorer classes.

The book was a roaring success, selling more than 6,000 copies upon publication.

Readers in England and America were touched by the book's empathetic emotional depth.

A Christmas Carol was Dickens' most popular book in the United States as well, selling more than two million copies in the century after its first publication there"-- Provided by publisher.