A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens' novel has been so popular since it was first published in 1843 that it has never been out of print. Dickens' interest in the plight of the poor and social injustice likely started when his father was sentenced to prison and Charles, then 12, had to quit school and take a job in a factory. Nearly 20 years later, in search of a bestseller, he came up with the tale of  Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Yet to Come.