An adept story-teller, Charles Dickens was perhaps most at home in the detective or mystery genres, epitomised in what is commonly hailed as one of the best detective stories of all time: "Bleak House". The "Inspector Bucket" of this story is none other than Inspector Field from said novel, who must endure the terrible depths of London's impoverished underbelly as experienced by Dickens himself. This classic work is being republished now in a new edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author. Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic famous for having created some of the world's most well-known fictional characters. His works became unprecedentedly popular during his life, and today he is commonly regarded as the greatest Victorian-era novelist. Although perhaps better known for such works as "Great Expectations" or "A Christmas Carol", Dickens first gained success with the 1836 serial publication of "The Pickwick Papers", which turned him almost overnight into an international literary celebrity thanks to his humour, satire, and astute observations concerning society and character.