The story of the orphan Oliver, who runs away from the workhouse only to be taken in by a den of thieves, shocked readers when it was first published. Dickens's tale of childhood innocence beset by evil depicts the dark criminal underworld of a London peopled by vivid and memorable characters - the arch-villain Fagin, the artful Dodger, the menacing Bill Sikes and the prostitute Nancy. Combining elements of Gothic Romance, the Newgate Novel and popular melodrama, Dickens created an entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery.

Fully illustrated with the original black and white illustrations by George Cruikshank.

NB: I would now regard this as a "finished" version of this eBook. If you find any errors, please either post on this thread, or send a PM to "Harry T" to let me know about them.

EDIT: 16 Dec 07

Significantly improved the formatting and layout of the book and added the original author's preface, which was missing from the earlier versions. Uploaded v3.

EDIT: 3 Jan 08

Thoroughly proof-read and hundreds of errors corrected. Uploaded v4.

EDIT: 28 Jan 08

Proof-read against a printed edition. Many lines of text missing from the PG original restored. Hundreds of paragraph breaks corrected, plus miscellaneous other errors. Added character list and a new cover picture. Uploaded v5.

EDIT: 20 Mar 08

More proofing. Quite a few extra minor errors corrected, and paragraph breaks brought into line with the printed edition. Uploaded v6.

Previous download count: 695

Thanks, harry. You're certainly on a roll here.

I've done a detailed comparison of the text against the "Oxford Illustrated Dickens" edition, and improved the formatting in a number of places. Uploaded a new v2 as a result.

Improved layout and formatting, and added the original preface, which was missing from earlier versions. Uploaded v3.

Thoroughly proof-read and hundreds of errors corrected. Uploaded v4.

You really love this book, don't you?

Thanks for the effort.

I love Dickens, full stop :).

Proof-read against a printed edition. Many lines of text missing from the PG original restored. Hundreds of paragraph breaks corrected, plus miscellaneous other errors. Added character list and a new cover picture. Uploaded v5.

NB: I would now regard this as a "finished" version of this eBook. If you find any errors, please either post on this thread, or send a PM to "Harry T" to let me know about them.

More proofing. Quite a few extra minor errors corrected, and paragraph breaks brought into line with the printed edition. Uploaded v6.