Charles John Huffam Dickens (February 7, 1812 – June 9, 1870) enjoyed a wider popularity during his lifetime than had any previous author. A Christmas Carol was conceived and written in a few weeks in late 1843. His many volumes include such works as David Copperfield, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and Our Mutual Friend. His popularity has never ceased. The most abundantly comic of English authors, he was much more than a great entertainer. The range, compassion, and intelligence of his apprehension of his society and its shortcomings enriched his novels and made him both one of the great forces in 19th-century literature and an influential spokesman of the conscience of his age. Narrator Edward E. French is an Oscar nominated Special Effects Makeup Artist (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) and Emmy winner for MAD TV, Westworld (TV Pilot) and Fox TV's "House." Contact Email: edwardfrench06@hotmail.com.