Sheltering from a summer downpour, youencounter the ghost of Charles Dickens. Join him for a chat in the inn belovedby Mr Pickwick and be swept away by his vigour, warmth and humanity. You'llfeel as if you've known him all your life.The great novelist Charles Dickensattracted international adulation on an unprecedented scale. He cultivated agenial intimacy with his readers, and after he died many of his admirers feltthat they had lost a personal friend. Sit back and listen to this masterconversationalist talk about everything from work in a boot-polish factory tolecture tours in America.Who could possibly ask for more?

Paul Schlicke, Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Aberdeen, has served as President of the Dickens Society of America and the International Dickens Fellowship. He is currently chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Charles Dickens Museum in London. Peter Ackroyd is a renowned novelist, critic and biographer. He has written 13 novels, including Hawksmoor, The Fall of Troy and Chatterton, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1987. His biographies include works on Dickens, William Blake and Shakespeare.