Charles Dickens Charles Dickens was an English novelist and one of the most popular writers in the history of literature. In Dickens many books he combined master storytelling, humor, pathos, and irony with sharp social criticism and a keen observation of people and places both real and imagined. He had a great understanding of people and showed sympathy for the poor and helpless and mocked and criticized the selfish, the greedy and the cruel. His well-known books are A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, The Pickwick Papers, and A Tale of Two Cities. Charles John Huffam Dick