By means of short entries linked to individual works, this index provides a guide to Dickens' novels, short stories, pamphlets, plays, collections of journalism and travel books. Entries are listed alphabetically with chapter rather than page references, allowing this book to be used for any edition of a Dickens work - to check literary allusions, unfamiliar quotations, obsolete words, phrases and slang, and topical, historical or topographical references. It can be used also to identify characters, places, quotations from songs or other writers, and references to historical characters or institutions without knowing where in Dickens' work these may occur. Cumulated entries group references by an individual author or title, genre, place or institution, eg prisons, showing Dickens' use of traditional and popular culture. The main themes and features of individual titles are described, together with bibliographical details of the first publication. Plots are outlined in the character entries. All quotations from other works have separate entries, as do important historical persons, places, and events, allusions, and words and phrases requiring glosses.