OLIVER TWIST

This Top Five Classics illustrated edition of Dickens’s timeless classic Oliver Twist includes the complete, unabridged text (from the final edition Dickens oversaw in 1865); 44 full-color illustrations by George Cruikshank and Frederick W. Pailthorpe; a helpful introduction; and a detailed author bio.

Oliver Twist, a poor orphan raised in a workhouse in Victorian England, escapes his cruel fate and flees to London, only to be taken in by a gang of criminals led by the villainous Fagin. Though Fagin, Bill Sikes, the Artful Dodger, and the other assorted pickpockets, house-breakers, cut-throats, and fallen women try their best to corrupt young Oliver, his innate goodness won’t allow him to fall under their spell. Unbeknownst to him, the circumstances of his birth are not as simple as they appear, and a chance encounter with a kindly benefactor may be his salvation if he can escape the clutches of the criminal underworld of London.

Dickens’ second novel, published in 1838, would become one of his most beloved, remaining in print around the world for nearly two centuries and inspiring countless adaptations and homages.