Hard
Times and Reprinted Pieces (commonly known as Hard Times) is the novel by
Charles Dickens. The book appraises English society and highlights the social
and economic pressures of the times. Hard Times is unusual in several respects.
It is by far the shortest of Dickens' novels, barely a quarter of the length of
those written immediately before and after it. Also, unlike all but one of his
other novels, Hard Times has neither a preface nor illustrations.