(Rev.)STEPHEN BROWNING and SIMON THOMAS, The Real Charles Dickens (Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2025), pp. 224. ISBN 9781399080798. £22.

Dickensian. 2026. Vol. 122. No. 529. P. 221–222.

Goroshkova R.

Readers will be exposed to a hidden dimension of Dickens at last, the
book’s intriguing title implies. This initiates an obvious question: is existing
information about Dickens incomplete, untrue, or purely fictitious? The
introduction clarifies the title’s meaning: ‘Dickens once said that he was
more gratified to hear people praise the reality of his work rather than its
literary merits’ (7). The authors support their paraphrasing of the quote
(unlike in many other places in the book) by citing Forster, who writes, ‘What
I had most, indeed, to notice in him, at the very outset of his career was his
indifference to any praise of his performances on the merely literary side,
compared with the higher recognition of them as bits of actual life’ (Forster
80). Though book contains no ready information regarding its authors, an
internet search reveals that Stephen Browning and Simon Thomas appear
to be best known for their travel guides, not for their expertise in Dickens.

Keywords: Charles Dickens