Charles Dickins Biography. Which?

[LuditeLil]

I would like to read a Dickens biography. There are a few. Which one, in your opinion, is the best?

What's wrong with Wikipedia?

The Peter Ackroyd one. It's really good. Very detailed. I guess Wikipedia is fine for basic facts but nothing beats a good long biography

Loved Claire Tomalin’s.

Claire Tomalin.

Claire Tomalin for superb readability and a sense of Dickens's place in his times and in history. Michael Slater (probably the world's leading Dickens expert) for a wealth of detail, but you need to commit to its 700+ pages! It’s a masterly biography but I'd go for Tomalin first to get a wonderfully-written grounding.

I also came on to say Claire Tomalin.

I came on to say Claire Tomalin too. Very readable.

Thanks everyone. We have a clear winner!

I've only read the Peter Ackroyd one and thought it excellent. Very readable and quite engrossing, despite its length. One of the best non-fiction books I've ever read I think.

Another vote for Claire Tomalin 😊

Not exactly a biography, but Orwell wrote an excellent essay on dickens
https://www.orwell.ru/library/reviews/dickens/english/e_chd

I'd also vote for Claire Tomalin over Peter Ackroyd. Ackroyd's book on Blake is a masterpiece though.

I'm a big fan of literary biographies. Tomalin's biography of Hardy is my all-time favourite.

The Bloomsbury Group by Francis Spalding is also great.

Yes! Totally agree...it's a mini masterpiece.