Charles Dickens scenes in "The Pickwick Papers" are claimed to have been influential in having the Fleet Prison shut down. Karl Marx asserted that Dickens "issued to the world more political and social truths than have been uttered by all the professional politicians, publicists and moralists put together". George Bernard Shaw even remarked that "Great Expectations" was more seditious than Marx's "Das Kapital". The exceptional popularity of Dickens's novels, even those with socially oppositional themes ("Bleak House", 1853; "Little Dorrit", 1857; "Our Mutual Friend", 1865), not only underscored his almost preternatural ability to create compelling storylines and unforgettable characters, but also ensured
Dickens in America the usual Dickens eye for the comic, the critical and the satirical. "Dickens In America" assesses a young radical Dickens' view of the emerging country's manners and morals, its flaws, fashions and its fascination with celebrity. It was produced by Lion Television Scotland for BBC Four. The producer was Richard Shaw. The series was directed by Christopher Swann. The DVD of the series was released in North America on 1 March 2011. Part One - Going Away Miriam Margolyes tells us in the beginning of the program: "I like Charles Dickens. No, I love Charles Dickens; because he wrote the