Hard Times was Dickens's shortest novel and the only one to be set in the industrial north of England. A fast moving story with a typical cast of larger than life characters, the novel is a vehicle for a humanist critique of both utilitarian education and the mutual antagonism between capital and the trade union. A humanist education system, it turns out, is Dickens's solution to the class struggle. Hard Times is set in the fictional Coketown and was partly inspired by a visit to Preston during the factory lockout that brought the town's industry to a standstill in 1853. This version is read as it appeared in 20 issues of Dickens's weekly Household Words from April to August 1854. It is followed by two earlier articles - Locked Out and On Strike - that describe Dickens' visit to Preston and do much to clarify his thinking on education and class conflict.
![Couverture ebook de Un chant de Noël (A Christmas Carol). - Texte complet et annoté, Trad. de l'anglais sous la dir. de P. Lorain. [Nouv. éd. entièrement revue et corrigée]., de Charles Dickens](https://mysmartbook.fr/media/fd/2b/f1/1775561525/un-chant-de-noel-a-christmas-carol-texte-complet-et-annote-trad-de-langlais-sous-la-dir-de-p-lorain-nouv-ed-entierement-revue-et-corrigee-charles-dickens-9791023201536-cover.jpg?ts=1787399191 "Couverture ebook de Un chant de Noël (A Christmas Carol). - Texte complet et annoté, Trad. de l'anglais sous la dir. de P. Lorain. [Nouv. éd. entièrement revue et corrigée]., de Charles Dickens")
