Barnaby Rudge was Dickens's first attempt at an historical novel - A Tale of Two Cities being the only other and was strongly influenced by the work of Sir Walter Scott. Written in times of Chartist unrest and set in the period of the Gordon riots, it allowed Dickens to work out imaginatively two of his major preoccupations, private murder and public violence, and the scenes in which an infuriated mob storms through the streets of London and burns down Newgate prison are among the most vivid he ever wrote. But many other strands are woven into the narrative and the strength of the book lies in the variety of interests that it offers and the diversity and vividness of its characters.
The cover shows a detail from 'The London Riots, 1780: Gordon Riots', an engraving by Phiz (photo