As he composed "A Christmas Carol" in 1843, Dickens said he "wept and laughed and wept again," transported-as countless readers have been since-by the emotional power of Ebenezer Scrooge's transformation from misanthrope to man of good will. Dickens' subsequent holiday books-"The Chimes," "The Cricket on the Hearth," "The Battle of Life," and "The Haunted Man"-are also included in this Nonesuch edition, which features the author's final texts and the illustrations Dickens himself selected to compliment his words.