'The power of Dickens is so amazing; that the reader at once becomes his captive' WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY The story of the orphan Oliver; who runs away from the workhouse to be taken in by a den of thieves; shocked readers with its depiction of a dark criminal underworld peopled by vivid and memorable characters - the arch-villain Fagin; the artful Dodger; the menacing Bill Sikes and the prostitute Nancy. Combining elements of Gothic romance; the Newgate novel and popular melodrama; Oliver Twist created an entirely new kind of fiction; scathing in its indictment of a cruel society and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery. Edited with an Introduction and notes by PHILIP HORNE