In these five short novels, written for Christmas 1843 to 1848, Dickens is at his most characteristic. "A Christmas carol" finds him at the peak of his powers. With "The Chimes" it gives the reader a powerful vision of Dickens's criticism of the destructive economic theories of his day. Both Scrooge and Redlaw in "The haunted man", discover that memory is the source of moral growth. "The cricket on the hearth" evokes the domestic ideal held dear by Dickens's contemporaries. In "The battle of life" Dickens engages with a favourite theme, the heroism of ordinary men and women. This edition also consists of Introduction, Notes on the Text, Bibliography, A Chronology of the Author and Explanatory Notes.