"A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!" cried a cheerful voice. "Bah!" said Scrooge, "Humbug!" In the city of London, on the night of Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge-a bitter, cold-hearted old miser-refuses his nephew's invitation for Christmas dinner and rudely turns away the gentlemen seeking donation for the poor. And as he comes to sit down alone in his cold, dark apartment, he is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley, his dead partner. Haggard and double-ironed, Marley is cursed to wander the earth. As Marley relates his unfortunate story, Scrooge is warned. And before Marley leaves, Scrooge is told that he would be haunted by Three Spirits. As the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet To Come take Scrooge on respective journeys, will he learn the true meaning of the season? Will Ebenezer Scrooge be redeemed? One of the best-loved Yuletide tales by Dickens, A Christmas Carol is filled with compassion and humour. With larger than life characters, who continue to live outside the pages, this Ghost story of Christmas will make you laugh and cry in the same breath. Published more than two centuries ago, it continues to be adapted into films, stage operas, and other media. Author Description: Charles Dickens was one of the most popular English writers of all time. He created some of the world's most well-known fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. Born in Portsmouth, England, on 7 February, 1812, his early childhood experiences were much like those depicted in his novel-David Copperfield. He published his first novel, Oliver Twist, in 1837. It was followed by Nicholas Nickleby (1838) and The Old Curiosity Shop (1841). A Christmas Carol (1843) is the most popular perhaps of all his works. In 1859, he published A Tale of Two Cities, his best known work of historical fiction. Dickens suffered a stroke and died on 9 June, 1870, aged 58.