Published in the same year as the SS Great Britain was launched, A Christmas Carol became a modern fairy tale and shaped our ideas of Christmas.
The tale of the solitary miser Ebeneezer Scrooge, who is taught the true meaning of the season by a series of ghostly visitors and given a second chance, was conjured up by Charles Dickens during one of his London night walks, who 'wept and laughed' as he composed it.
Taken to readers' hearts for its humour, compassion and message of redemption, it remains his best-loved book.
Paperback
94 pages
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 978-0141389479