ArmandoIannuccipresentsapersonalargumentinpraiseofthegeniusofCharlesDickens.Throughtheprismoftheauthor’smostautobiographicalnovel,DavidCopperfield,ArmandolooksbeyondDickens-thenationalinstitution-andinsteadexploresthequalitiesofDickens’sworkwhichstillmakehimoneofthebestBritishwriters.WhileDickensisoftencelebratedforhispowerfuldepictionsofVictorianEnglandandhisroleasasocialreformer,thisprogrammeforegroundstheelementsofhiswritingwhichmakehimworthreading,asmuchforwhathetellsusaboutourselvesinthetwenty-firstcenturyasourancestorsinthenineteenth.ArmandoarguesthatDickens’sremarkableuseoflanguageandhisextraordinarygiftforcreatingcharactersmakehimastartlinglyexperimentalandpsychologicallypenetratingwriterwhodemandsnotjusttobeadaptedfortelevisionbuttobereadandreadagain.