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Hello and welcome to Life of the Week,

where leading historians delve into the lives of some of history's most intriguing and significant figures.

From ancient Egyptian fairies and medieval warriors to daring 20th century spies.

Thank you so much for joining me, Pete, for our Life of the Week series.

We're going to be talking about Charles Dickens today. And in many ways, I think Charles Dickens is a man who needs no introduction. I'm imagining most people will have heard of him. But as someone who's spent many years studying Dickens and his work, I'm quite interested in your personal take to start us off about what makes Dickens so fascinating. Yeah, thank you, Ellie. I suppose with anyone

who needs no introduction, often they're the ones who most need the introduction, because we think

we know them. And then you find out, well, actually, I didn't know them as well, you know. And there's

lots about Dickens that is probably surprising to people. I mean, for one thing, he was a terrific

traveler and a Europhile. He spoke fluent French and Italian and lived in French and French and

also. So, you know, he has this fascination beyond England, you know. And I think for those who

think they know Dickens, they think him as being the

sort of the iconic English author, especially iconic London author as well, you know, and certainly

in terms of, you know, London, he is the muse of the city and he really captures the essence

...