Over the course of Christmas Eve, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the various "ghosts of Christmas". They force him to relive incidents from his past, and present him with terrifying visions of the future should he not change his ways - not least his own death and the fate of Tiny Tim, son of Scrooge's faithful clerk Bob Cratchit. A famously dark comedy that cannot fail to stir the heart, "A Christmas Carol" made its first joyous appearance in December 1843. Ultimately celebrating goodwill and the value of the human spirit, it was coined 'the greatest little book in the world". A bestseller ever since publication and spawning numerous film and stage adaptations, "A Christmas Carol" has become an integral part of everybody's Christmas.Following its success, Dickens wrote several other Christmas novellas, cultivating his reputation as social critic and master storyteller. "The Chimes" is a satire, examining the economic realities for the poor of society. It was described in "The Economist" as "one of the most remarkable books of the day" which would "mark, if not form, an epoch in the thoughts, creeds, and minds of mankind".Throughout the 30s, 40s, and 50s, radio was the major form of communication and home entertainment. Much was invested in big stars and lavish productions. "A Christmas Carol" was originally broadcast on 23rd December 1938. Now fully remastered on audio CD, it was directed and hosted by Orson Welles - most famous for his production "Citizen Kane" - and the leading light in "The Mercury Theatre Ensemble". Agnes Moorehead and Joseph Cotten who plays Nephew Fred here, were also regular players in his multi-talented repertory group. An honest and heart-warming tale based on the original book by Charles Dickens, this truly atmospheric and entertaining production is sure to charm and warm the hearts of all audio and radio fans. And listen out for Welles playing that most mean of misers Ebenezer Scrooge too. "The perfect soundtrack to a mulled wine and a hot fire." - "Disability Times".
One of the grand masters of Victorian literature, Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Landport, Portsea, England. He died in Kent on June 9, 1870. The second of eight children of a family continually plagued by debt, the young Dickens came to know not only hunger and privation,but also the horror of the infamous debtors' prison and the evils of child labor. A turn of fortune in the shape of a legacy brought release from the nightmare of prison and "slave" factories and afforded Dickens the opportunity of two years' formal schooling at Wellington House Academy. He worked as an attorney's clerk and newspaper reporter until his Sketches by Boz (1836) and The Pickwick Papers (1837) brought him the amazing and instant success that was to be his for the remainder of his life. In later years, the pressure of serial writing, editorial duties, lectures, and social commitments led to his separation from Catherine Hogarth after twenty-three years of marriage. It also hastened his death at the age of fifty-eight, when he was characteristically engaged in a multitude of work.
