Preface Summary

Preface to the 1857 Edition

  • Dickens basically tells his critics to kiss his rear end. Which, honestly, is business as usual as far as his prefaces are concerned.
  • Dickens declares that he knows what he's talking about, and however viciously he mocks the government or the supermoguls of his time – well, if anything, it's not nearly viciously enough. (See "In a Nutshell" for some background on this.)
  • Oh, and also, the Marshalsea prison doesn't exist anymore.