I shall never regret doing as I have—never, if I starve or beg in consequence When Nicholas Nickleby is left penniless after his fathers death, he appeals to his wealthy uncle to help him find work and to protect his mother and sister. But Ralph Nickleby proves both hard-hearted and unscrupulous, and Nicholas finds himself forced to make his own way in the world. His a I shall never regret doing as I have—never, if I starve or beg in consequence When Nicholas Nickleby is left penniless after his fathers death, he appeals to his wealthy uncle to help him find work and to protect his mother and sister. But Ralph Nickleby proves both hard-hearted and unscrupulous, and Nicholas finds himself forced to make his own way in the world. His adventures gave Dickens the opportunity to portray an extraordinary gallery of rogues and eccentrics: Wackford Squeers, the tyrannical headmaster of Dotheboys Hall, a school for unwanted boys; the slow-witted orphan Smike, rescued by Nicholas; and the gloriously theatrical Mr and Mrs Crummles and their daughter, the infant phenonenon. Like many of Dickenss novels, Nicholas Nickleby is characterised by his outrage at cruelty and social injustice, but it is also a flamboyantly exuberant work, revealing his comic genius at its most unerring. Mark Fords introduction compares Nicholas Nickleby to eighteenth-century picaresque novels, and examines Dickenss criticism of the Yorkshire Schools, his social satire and use of language. This edition includes the original illustrations by Phiz, a chronology and a list for further reading.