by SYLVERE MONOD , Professor of English Literature in the University of Paris
My firm belief is that Dickens is a very visible figure in the eyes of most Frenchmen, more so indeed than any other English writer of the past, with the exception of Shakespeare.
Dickens died on 9 June 1870. Through his life he had an intimate liking for the land of Britain's hereditary foe. In this centenary year of his death Professor Monod asks: what is the French view of Dickens? And, as a French-man, he gives his own appreciation of the man and his work.