Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, author portrait
© John Cairns

Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

ROBERT DOUGLAS-FAIRHURST is a professor of English literature at the University of Oxford, and a fellow of Magdalen College. His books include Becoming Dickens: The Invention of a Novelist, which won the Duff Cooper Prize, and The Story of Alice: Lewis Carroll and the Secret History of Wonderland, which was short-listed for the Costa Biography Award and was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. He writes regularly for publications including The Times (London), The GuardianTLS, and The Spectator. Radio and television appearances include Start the Week and The Culture Show, and he has also acted as the historical consultant on TV adaptations of Jane EyreEmma, and Great Expectations, the BBC drama series Dickensian, and the feature film Enola Holmes. In 2015 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He lives in Oxford, England.
The Turning Point

Books

The Turning Point

Books for LGBTQIA+ History Month

For LGBTQIA+ History Month in October, we’re celebrating the shared history of individuals within the community and the importance of the activists who have fought for their rights and the rights of others. We acknowledge the varying and diverse experiences within the LGBTQIA+ community that have shaped history and have led the way for those

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Books for National Depression Education and Awareness Month

For National Depression Education and Awareness Month in October, we are sharing a collection of titles that educates and informs on depression, including personal stories from those who have experienced depression and topics that range from causes and symptoms of depression to how to develop coping mechanisms to battle depression.

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Horror Titles for the Halloween Season

In celebration of the Halloween season, we are sharing horror books that are aligned with the themes of the holiday: the sometimes unknown and scary creatures and witches. From classic ghost stories and popular novels that are celebrated today, in literature courses and beyond, to contemporary stories about the monsters that hide in the dark, our list

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The Turning Point: 1851—A Year That Changed Charles Dickens and the World By Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

Robert Douglas-Fairhurst discusses his recently published book The Turning Point   Thomas Hardy described the year 1851 as a “precipice in Time”; the Times newspaper saw it as the century’s pivot, the moment when the “Old World” became the “New World.” It was a period that was as inventive in terms of language as it

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