Charles Dickens: A Brain on Fire! 🔥

Dominic is joined by Gage Mcweeny, who is Professor of English at Williams College, Massachusetts. Gage is an alumni of both Columbia and Princeton, with a specialism in nineteenth-century literature; sociology; and culture. His book The Comfort of Strangers: Social Life and Literary Form  (OUP) examines that Victorian phenomenon of new people emerging everywhere in the Great Cities as Industrialisation takes its hold in the 19th Century and how authors such as George Eliot, Oscar Wilde, Henry James and of course  Dickens respond to it. He also wrote the introduction to the Longman edition of Hard Times. Reading extracts from Hard Times is the actor Ben Eagle and The Bookshop Band also appear in the episode with their song The Tumbling Girl ... Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Host Dominic Gerrard reads the opening chapter of Bleak House ... Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the brilliant Dr. Anna Mckay who is a social and cultural historian who specialises in both 18th & 19th Century British Maritime history and the methods of confinement that were practised throughout that period. Anna's research has taken her to historic prisoner of war depots and penal colonies across the world. She has also undertaken archival research in the UK, Australia, Bermuda and Canada. Anna is also writing a book on the Hulks and is best placed to tell us how true to life Dickens’ portrayal of Magwitch really is …Reading excerpts from Great Expectations and contemporary newspapers is the inimitable Matt Grinter Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the inimitable Andrew Davies whose iconic screen adaptations include  Bleak House, Pride & Prejudice, War & Peace, Les Miserablés, Middlemarch, Vanity Fair ... and many more!It all begins in 1976 with his iconic retelling of The Signalman ... Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

In this bumper episode Dominic is joined by the brilliant Prof. Hugo Bowles from Italy's University of Foggia and welcomes back to the series the inimitable Dr. Claire Wood. Together they take the listener on journey inside THE DICKENS CODE: a project that seeks to crack the code of Dickens' unique form of shorthand, and decipher the author's hidden messages from 150 years ago ...To book for Dominic's GHOSTS AND MURDER live stream on Monday 31st October - which includes readings of Sikes & Nancy, The Dead Hand,The Signalman  plus a live Q&A with Dr. Claire Wood - click here: https://dickensmuseum.com/blogs/all-events/ghosts-murderYou can watch wherever you are in the world! Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the brilliant Dr. Emily Dunbar, curator at the Charles Dickens Museum in London.Today the museum launches its new exhibition To Be Read at Dusk: Dickens, Ghosts and the Supernatural ...  Emily is here to guide us through what visitors can expect to encounter as they pass through the famous red door and cross the threshold of number 48 Doughty Street, London.Dominic's film Ghosts and Murder - which includes his readings of Sikes & Nancy, The Dead Hand and The Signalman  - will be live streamed from the Dickens Museum this Halloween 31st October at 7.30 (GMT). Watch wherever you are in the world! Book here Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the fantastic historian Adam Zamoyski who shares his insight into the origins of both Revolutionary thought and action in the last quarter of the 18th Century: what Dickens famously calls 'The Period' in his A Tale of Two Cities ...Adam's celebrated titles on the Age of Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars include: Holy Madness, 1812. Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow, Rites of Peace and Napoleon: The Man Behind The Myth ... This episode also contains both French Revolutionary and British Reactionary quotes and slogans read by the brilliant actress Léna RobinYou can watch wherever you are in the world! Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is Joined by the brilliant Dr. Claire Wood, who is a lecturer in Victorian Literature at the University of Leicester and a former research associate at the University of York. Claire’s writing on Dickens includes: Dickens and the Business of Death, published by Cambridge University Press. Claire is also a founder of the Dickens Code which seeks to crack the mysteries of Dickens’ unique form of shorthand - a project that has just been nominated for a Times Education Award ..Also joining us to read extracts from The Old Curiosity Shop  the excellent actor, Gunnar Cauthery. Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

It's summer ... the perfect time to talk about Dickens' travels abroad. Dominic is joined again by the brilliant Lucinda Hawskley who returns to talk about her new book Dickens and Travel ... A perfect addition to your holiday reading!Mentioned also in the episode are two portraits which you can view here:Daniel Maclise's "Charles Dickens" ('Nickleby Portrait) 1839Francis Alexander's "Charles Dickens" 1842Plus Harry Styles' latest album Harry's House !To book for Dominic's GHOSTS AND MURDER live stream on Monday 31st October - which includes readings of Sikes & Nancy, The Dead Hand,The Signalman  plus a live Q&A with Dr. Claire Wood - click here: https://dickensmuseum.com/blogs/all-events/ghosts-murderYou can watch wherever you are in the world!Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the inimitable Stephen Fry who takes the listener on an intricate journey through the fog and mystery of Dickens' thrilling masterpiece: Bleak HouseReading extracts from Esther's narrative also is the brilliant Sally ScottAnd here is a link to Miriam Margolyes' unabridged audiobook of Bleak House mentioned in the episodeIf you'd like to make a small donation to support the running of this series please click hereSupport the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!