Free digital classic
Hard Times
by Dickens, Charles
About this book
Creators: Charles Dickens (1812-1870) "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens is a novel first published in 1854. Set in the fictional industrial town of Coketown, it satirizes the harsh social and economic conditions of Victorian England. The story follows the rigid utilitarian Thomas Gradgrind, his children Louisa and Tom, the boastful factory owner Josiah Bounderby, and the struggling mill worker Stephen Blackpool. Through their intersecting lives, Dickens examines the grinding divide between wealthy capitalists and exploited workers in post-Industrial Revolution society, questioning whether facts alone can sustain human happiness. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading Level: Reading ease score: 79.8 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. Rights: Public domain in the USA. Downloads: 7178