A Christmas Carol

The most popular of all ghost stories was first published on 17 December 1843 and by Christmas Eve 6 000 copies had been sold at a published price of five shillings. The story of Scrooge a miser who becomes a different man when he is presented with visions of past present and future by Marley's ghost was an immediate success and has remainded so ever since. It is a book to read on Christmas Eve beside a blazing fire - and the best introduction to Dickens for young readers not quite ready for his longer novels. Arthur Rackham master of the fantastic illustrated the story in 1915.