Considered to be the last picaresque novel he wrote, Charles Dickens’s The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit was originally published as a serial between 1842 and 1844. One of his lesser-known literary works, it follows the story of two brothers, Martin and Jonas Chuzzlewit, who are driven to a life of crime and degeneracy thanks to a seemingly inherited selfishness and stubbornness. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit is a classic of English literature that features some of the most memorable Dickensian villains. 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. This classic work is being republished now in a new edition complete with an introductory chapter from Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens by G. K. Chesterton.