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Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph
A definitive biography of Charles Dickens, drawing on 1000s of letters, many unpublished, Johnson depicts not only him but also the world in which he lived. William Makepeace Thackeray, Benjamin Disraeli, Thomas Carlyle, Alfred Tennyson, Edgar Allan Poe, George Eliot, and Queen Victoria are among the players in the drama of his a drama in which he appears as one of the most complex figures of his time, a man whose political and social crusades against illiteracy, capital punishment, unjust penal systems, and child abuse are as compelling as his literary achievements.As the original 2-volume edition of Charles His Tragedy & Triumph appeared, Lionel Trilling "We cannot say less of Mr. Johnson's book than it is the definitive life of Dickens. & to say that is to say that it is a splendid achievement & a work of superlative interest & charm."V1 The anvil & the 1812-33: Birth & backgroundThe happy timeThe challenge of despairAmbition's ladderFirst loveClimb to 1833-37: The career takes shapeBoz is bornCatherinePickwick triumphantKnight of the joyful countenanceTroubles & 1837-39: Metamorphosis of a journalistLost loveAscent of the rocketThe break with BentleyThe will in commandDeeper 1839-41: The thieves' den & the worldMaster Humphrey's clock strikes oneEmergence of a radicalThe neglected & misusedTriumph in Scotland & the eve of a new departureThe new 1842: The American dreamConquestwith undertonesNot the republic of my imaginationReturn journeyHome valedictory on AmericaCrescendo of 1843-46: Year of disappointmentSelfishness & the economic manBattles & Italinan air-castlesFrom the bells of Genoa...To the chimes of LondonLast days in ItalyBirth pangs of the daily newsV2 At grips with 1846-51: Difficulties with DombeyThe want of somethingThe world of DombeyismA haunted manMyself into the shadowy worldHis favorite childHousehold wordsSplendid barnstormingFog over EnglandThe anatomy of societyThe heaviest blow in my powerCritique of materialismFire bursts outNobody's faultOld hell shaftThe prison of societyBreaking pointThe track of a stormSurface sereneThe tempest & the ruined gardenIntimations of mortalityThe great dust-heapThe bottom of the 1865-70: Pilgrim of Gad's HillTo the loadstone rockLast rallyThe dying & undying voiceThe narrow bed
608 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1952
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About the author
Edgar Johnson
15 books1 followerAuthor of biographies of Charles Dickens and Sir Walter Scott. Professor Johnson wrote seven other books, including two novels and a 1945 anthology, A Treasury of Satire. Husband of Eleanor Kraus, who co-wrote with him The Dickens Theatrical Reader. He died at the age of 93.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 8, 2018
If I read the numbers I erased from the fly page correctly, I paid $25.00 for this dusty, tattered, two-volume biography of Dickens in a favorite used book shop (previous owner-one, Ellen Shaffer).
I generally stick to their $1.00 deals, but having determined that "David Copperfield" was the best book ever ever ever written, I can see why I might have splurged.
I hadn’t gotten around to reading it yet, when, in 2015, I attended a reading performance of “A Christmas Carol” by Dicken’s great great grandson, Gerald Dickens, at Rogers Gardens in Newport Beach (CA).
I'd brought the first of the two volumes along in hopes of an autograph [why I erased the price I paid :-) ], and was delighted to actually get it! As Gerald signed his name in an artistic flourish, he remarked that this biography of Dickens was his favorite. This prompted me to begin reading. But having little time for the actual fastening of my eyes to print, I’ve only just finished.
My goodness! I can’t imagine a more thoroughly researched, or conceived biography! The notes and bibliography alone proclaim how much time, thought, and research went into compiling and authoring this masterpiece! I hadn’t previously given much thought to all that a biographical author endures with procuring interviews, gathering and piecing together scraps of receipts, snippets from letters, diaries, play bills, manuscripts and what-have-you, from across the world and decades, to assemble something coherent--all the while infusing life and heart back into 80 year-old material; until I took a gander at all the notes at the end of each volume, crediting sources and noting when dates from one source disagree with dates from another and why one was chosen over others. And then there's the similar process of selecting and deselecting sources: one letter is mentioned in the source notes as having been disregarded in the biography, as most likely a fraud, judging by date discrepancies and excessive details supposedly being relayed by the letter’s author, a relative, to a recipient who would have known Dickens too well to have needed such details (such as the listing of all of Dickens children).
But, enough about the notes—the authorship of this biography is hardly short of Dickensian writing itself! No wonder it’s Gerald’s favorite. Each time we get to the writing of a particular novel, we are treated to an excellent critical essay on the work as well as details of the writing—often provided us through quotes of the many letters Dickens wrote to his long-time friend, John Forster, whom he’d met in 1836, when they were all of 24 (Forster being just 2 years Dickens’ junior) seeking advice and sharing thoughts about what he planned to write, or was in the process of writing, and how he was feeling about either.
I come away from this biography feeling that Charles Dickens was as much an actor and philanthropist, as a writer--so energetically expressive as to always seem bigger than life, and bearing a heart with compassion to fill an ocean.
Well done, Mr. Johnson!!! (Edgar Johnson, 1902-1995)
I generally stick to their $1.00 deals, but having determined that "David Copperfield" was the best book ever ever ever written, I can see why I might have splurged.
I hadn’t gotten around to reading it yet, when, in 2015, I attended a reading performance of “A Christmas Carol” by Dicken’s great great grandson, Gerald Dickens, at Rogers Gardens in Newport Beach (CA).
I'd brought the first of the two volumes along in hopes of an autograph [why I erased the price I paid :-) ], and was delighted to actually get it! As Gerald signed his name in an artistic flourish, he remarked that this biography of Dickens was his favorite. This prompted me to begin reading. But having little time for the actual fastening of my eyes to print, I’ve only just finished.
My goodness! I can’t imagine a more thoroughly researched, or conceived biography! The notes and bibliography alone proclaim how much time, thought, and research went into compiling and authoring this masterpiece! I hadn’t previously given much thought to all that a biographical author endures with procuring interviews, gathering and piecing together scraps of receipts, snippets from letters, diaries, play bills, manuscripts and what-have-you, from across the world and decades, to assemble something coherent--all the while infusing life and heart back into 80 year-old material; until I took a gander at all the notes at the end of each volume, crediting sources and noting when dates from one source disagree with dates from another and why one was chosen over others. And then there's the similar process of selecting and deselecting sources: one letter is mentioned in the source notes as having been disregarded in the biography, as most likely a fraud, judging by date discrepancies and excessive details supposedly being relayed by the letter’s author, a relative, to a recipient who would have known Dickens too well to have needed such details (such as the listing of all of Dickens children).
But, enough about the notes—the authorship of this biography is hardly short of Dickensian writing itself! No wonder it’s Gerald’s favorite. Each time we get to the writing of a particular novel, we are treated to an excellent critical essay on the work as well as details of the writing—often provided us through quotes of the many letters Dickens wrote to his long-time friend, John Forster, whom he’d met in 1836, when they were all of 24 (Forster being just 2 years Dickens’ junior) seeking advice and sharing thoughts about what he planned to write, or was in the process of writing, and how he was feeling about either.
I come away from this biography feeling that Charles Dickens was as much an actor and philanthropist, as a writer--so energetically expressive as to always seem bigger than life, and bearing a heart with compassion to fill an ocean.
Well done, Mr. Johnson!!! (Edgar Johnson, 1902-1995)
June 7, 2012
I thought this was a very interesting biography to read. It really gave me a great insight on Charles Dickens' misfortunes and victories in life. Reading this biography, I now have a great understanding of the struggles Dickens had to overcome to become a successful author in the 1900's, considering how he was also in poverty for most of his life. I would recommend this biography to anyone who would like to grasp a better concept of the life of Charles Dickens. I would rate this biography as a 4 out of 5 because Edgar Jonson tended to ramble before getting to the information the readers that had interest in.
April 21, 2022
This was worth the time it took to read! I learned so much, and appreciate his works even more now.
March 22, 2022
Don't drop this 601 page book on your foot. it will hurt like the dickens (sorry). I was struck by two things. First, that so much detail has been preserved about the life of Dickens. Second, that I actually was able to finish the book.
May 3, 2023
Handsdown the best biography I've ever read—and I've read lots! Readers will come to know Dickens intimately and will discover a truly amazing life. He was, I would characterize, as the Mozart of literature. Though born into difficult circumstances with an ambitious mother and a father who couldn't stay out of debt, by the time he was in his mid-twenties he was world famous and beloved as an author. At age 29, he toured the US and wherever he went was mobbed by thousands of fans. He reception was like the ones Justin Beiber or the early Beatles received. He was a creative genius who not only wrote memorable novels but plays, which he produced, directed, and acted in. He was a devoted friend and had enormous compassion for the downtrodden—from poor children in awful schools to fatherless families heading toward destitution. The two volumes are not easy reads; Johnson's language is complex and elevated, but it will well worth the time and effort!!!
November 13, 2025
en unos cuentos si me entretuve pero en algunos me revolví un poco
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January 4, 2015Due to his father's extravagance Charles Dicken's was very poor as a young child. He worked in a boot blackening factory for a while. When his father was in debtor's prison the whole family lived there also. His first book "Pickwick Papers" was very popular and started hime on his way to wealth. He traveled to America and spent time in Italy. This book also critiques Dicken's books. Dickens later book campaigned for better conditions for the poor. 585 pages.
January 5, 2021
Very well researched and written. Dickens life brings new depth to his novels. Johnson covers all aspects of his life without prejudice or exaggeration.
October 31, 2017
Small wonder that many consider Edgar Johnson’s biography of Charles Dickens (“Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph”) such a masterpiece.
First published in 1977, Johnson uncovers thousands of letters written by Dickens (many unpublished) to paint a literary giant of 19th century London with its many hues and complexities, a prodigy, magnificent journalist, a wildly successful novelist, and later a fervent social reformer, especially when writing about capital punishment, illiteracy, and the punishing child labor abuses during the Victorian Age.
No wonder journalist and author Pete Hamill once observed that “no writer has yet captured Manhattan like Dickens did 19th century London.’’
First published in 1977, Johnson uncovers thousands of letters written by Dickens (many unpublished) to paint a literary giant of 19th century London with its many hues and complexities, a prodigy, magnificent journalist, a wildly successful novelist, and later a fervent social reformer, especially when writing about capital punishment, illiteracy, and the punishing child labor abuses during the Victorian Age.
No wonder journalist and author Pete Hamill once observed that “no writer has yet captured Manhattan like Dickens did 19th century London.’’
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews