This book is a fascinating and original insight into two authors who have inspired us for centuries. Perhaps unique among world authors, Dickens and Dante create comprehensive moral systems still strikingly relevant in today's world, filled with greed, religious hypocrisy, fraud, violence and war. At the same time their compelling characters can still move us to tears and laughter. By dropping them into their appropriate circles of Dante's Inferno, Professor Jhirad delves deeply into Dickens' villains in a way that is both scholarly and accessible to the average reader. Additional chapters on Dickens' Purgatory and Paradise add richness to the book.