Skip to main content
Advertise with the Morning Star
How poverty itself shaped A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens was facing a return to the destitution that had blighted his childhood, and it was this which drove him to write the remarkable best-seller which changed the politics of Christmas forever, writes MAT COWARD
Actors rehearsing for a performance of Another Christmas Carol at the Charles Dickens Museum in London in 2016

MILLIONS of people this month will be watching, reading or listening to some version of An Appeal to the People of England, on behalf of the Poor Man’s Child. Many will return to the original text; others may prefer the Muppets’ interpretation.

In 1843, Charles Dickens (1812-70) had two worries on his mind; one personal, and the other … well, the other personal as well, in a way.

His immediate problem was that his career appeared to be on its deathbed. He’d been a successful writer since his mid-twenties and had become, in a short time, a superstar throughout the English-speaking world. This was the first time he’d experienced professional failure.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
HISTORY MADE: A plaque at the Old Bailey dedicated to the case of William Penn and William Mead — and the jury who acted on their conscience
Features / 2 September 2025
2 September 2025

The heroism of the jury who defied prison and starvation conditions secured the absolute right of juries to deliver verdicts based on conscience — a convention which is now under attack, writes MAT COWARD

CAUSE AND EFFECT: Maturing apples and and apple pie / pics: (L to R) George Chernilevsky and Roozitaa both CC
Gardening / 16 August 2025
16 August 2025

As apple trees blossom to excess it remains to be seen if an abundance of fruit will follow. MAT COWARD has a few tips to see you through a nervy time
 

‘SEDITION AND BLASPHEMY’: (L to R) Blackfriars Rotunda, 1820 - view from the top of the Albion Mills; a political rowdiness / Pic (L to R): Frederick Birnie; Old and New London both Public domain
Politics / 15 August 2025
15 August 2025

While an as-yet-unnamed new left party struggles to be born, MAT COWARD looks at some of the wild and wonderful names of workers’ organisations past that have been lost to time

crime
Crime Fiction / 12 August 2025
12 August 2025

Timeloop murder, trad family MomBomb, Sicilian crime pages and Craven praise

Similar stories
TALK OF THE TOWN: (L to R) John Wilkes caricatured by Willia
Features / 25 January 2025
25 January 2025
Despite his wealthy background and membership of a secretive aristocratic occult club, the radical politician forged an alliance with the working class to fight for democracy and free speech against the Georgian elite, writes MAT COWARD
A PEOPLE’S ARMY: A broomstick parade on a London roof by a
Features / 3 December 2024
3 December 2024
A crucial part of the war effort, the Home Guard, was launched partly due to the influence of Tom Wintringham, a revolutionary communist with a passion for DIY grenades and guerilla warfare, writes MAT COWARD
CHANGING FORTUNES: (L to R) An engraving of Joseph Rayner St
Features / 20 November 2024
20 November 2024
MAT COWARD explores how the ‘Tory-Radical’ Christian minister became a fiery opponent of the Poor Law, advocating armed resistance against its brutal cruelty against the emerging working class
MILITARIST ANTHEM: 
I Vow to Thee, My Country is performed a
Features / 28 September 2024
28 September 2024
MAT COWARD unearths Gustav Holst’s radical roots, from meetings at William Morris’s house to pamphlet-printing and agitation with the Red Vicar of Thaxted — and laments that he is remembered today for the entirely wrong reason