Martin Chuzzlewit

'immeasurably the best of my novels'

Thus wrote Charles Dickens on finishing Martin Chuzzlewit in 1842. His principal object was 'to show how Selfishness propagates itself' in a story whose hero is onlyone of a brilliant cast of characters, ranging from the hypocritical Mr Pecksniff and his daughters and the disreputable Mrs Gramp to the arch-villain Jonas Chuzzlewit. AS young Martin gains self-knowledge during his sojourn in America, in scenes whose satire caused great offence, Dickens exposes public scandal as well as private malice through the corrupt dealings of the Anglo-Bengalee Assurance Company.