Creating a culture of charity

Thanks to Amanda for sending me the link to this engaging and thoughtful review of Jenny Hartley's Charles Dickens and the House of Fallen Women (which I've finally bought for myself). A sample:

He was the writer whose depiction of cruelty, poverty, and urban suffering most directly shaped the moral imagination of his countrymen. In so doing, he played a direct part in cultivating the charitable impulse that remains such a conspicuous and attractive part of English culture.

And special thanks to Brian Murray, writer of the article, who's graciously agreed to send me a copy of his own book, the delightfully named Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Dickens.