Charles Dickens
- Books on site
- 6
- Total words
- 1,216,736
- Reading time
- 67.6 h
- Years covered
- 1838–1861
- Longest
- David Copperfield
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was the first novelist to be a public event. He published in monthly parts, edited two magazines, toured America and Britain reading his own work aloud, and died leaving an unfinished novel on the desk. Fifteen novels, five Christmas books and a mountain of journalism came out of a career that began when his family was sent to the Marshalsea for debt.
The shelf below lists the Dickens novels on this site, from the Christmas book that saved his finances in 1843 to the last completed novel of 1861, with the great middle-period books between them.
Every Charles Dickens title on editions.ink
In publication order, with word counts and reading time. The list is generated from the book pages themselves, so a new release appears here automatically.
Oliver Twist1838 · 161,010 words
A Christmas Carol1843 · 28,500 words
David Copperfield1850 · 358,000 words
Bleak House1853 · 351,226 words
A Tale of Two Cities1859 · 135,000 words
Great Expectations1861 · 183,000 words| Year | Title | Words | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1838 | Oliver Twist | 161,010 | ~11 h |
| 1843 | A Christmas Carol | 28,500 | ~2 h |
| 1850 | David Copperfield | 358,000 | ~24 h |
| 1853 | Bleak House | 351,226 | ~23 h |
| 1859 | A Tale of Two Cities | 135,000 | ~9 h |
| 1861 | Great Expectations | 183,000 | ~12 h |
Still only at Project Gutenberg
Further Charles Dickens titles are in the public domain but not yet built here. They are listed so you can see the shape of the whole bibliography; the links go to Project Gutenberg, where the plain text is available today.
- A Christmas Carol in Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (Gutenberg #46)
- Hard Times (Gutenberg #786)
- The Pickwick Papers (Gutenberg #580)
- The Old Curiosity Shop (Gutenberg #700)
- The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Gutenberg #564)
- Nicholas Nickleby (Gutenberg #967)
- Our Mutual Friend (Gutenberg #883)
- Little Dorrit (Gutenberg #963)
- Oliver Twist, Vol. 2 (of 3) (Gutenberg #47530)
- Dombey and Son (Gutenberg #821)
- Three Ghost Stories (Gutenberg #1289)
Read next
Authors whose books sit closest on the shelf:
Herman MelvilleFyodor DostoevskyWilkie CollinsGeorge Eliot
Questions readers ask
How many Charles Dickens books are free on editions.ink?
There are 6 editions on the site, together about 1,216,736 words, or roughly 81 hours of reading. Each page has the full text as EPUB, AZW3 and KEPUB.
What is the best Charles Dickens book to start with?
A Christmas Carol (1843): it is the shortest complete work here, at about 1.9 hours.
Are these editions complete or abridged?
Complete. The text comes from the public-domain transcription and is checked against the printed edition named on each book page; nothing is cut, modernised or annotated away.
Which format should I download?
EPUB is the safest default for phones, tablets, Kobo and most reading apps. AZW3 suits older Kindles, and KEPUB is the Kobo-native format with better page-turn and footnote handling on a Kobo device.
Do I need an account or an app?
No. The download links are direct files served from the site; no account, newsletter or paywall is involved.
How long does David Copperfield take?
About 23.9 hours at 300 words per minute for 358,000 words — the longest title on this page. The whole list runs to roughly 47 hours.
Part of the author index and the complete catalogue. Every book page carries the full text, chapter summaries, characters, themes and the download links.