Hard Times

And, as their fortunes cross with those of free-spirited circus girl Sissy Jupe and victimized weaver Stephen Blackpool, Gradgrind is eventually forced to recognize the value of the human heart in an age of materialism and machinery. Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning [Coralie Bickford-Smith](https://www.waterstones.com/author/coralie-bickford-smith/2396015), these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. View other titles in [Penguin’s Clothbound Classics Collection](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/clothbound+classics).** Credited by some with inventing the detective novel and one of the most popular novelists of his day [Charles Dickens](https://www.waterstones.com/author/charles-dickens/5832) remains one of the best-loved novelists in the English language, whose 200th anniversary was celebrated in 2012. His most famous books, including [Oliver Twist](https://www.waterstones.com/book/oliver-twist/charles-dickens/philip-horne/9780141439747), [Great Expectations](https://www.waterstones.com/book/great-expectations/charles-dickens/9780141439563), [A Tale of Two Cities](https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-tale-of-two-cities/charles-dickens/richard-maxwell/9780141439600), [David Copperfield](https://www.waterstones.com/book/david-copperfield/charles-dickens/h-k-browne/9780140439441) and [The Pickwick Papers](https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-pickwick-papers/charles-dickens/mark-wormald/9780140436112), have been adapted for stage and screen and read by millions.