With a new introduction and notes, this edition of Great Expectations offers new insights into one of Dickens's most fascinating and disturbing novels. Charting the progress of Pip from childhood to adulthood, Dickens shows the dangers of being driven by a desire for wealth and social status.

As Pip moves from the Kent marshes to busy, commercial London, encountering many extraordinary characters--from Magwitch, the escaped convict, to Miss Havisham, a woman locked up with her past--he is confronted with the challenge of establishing a sense of his own identity and values contrary to the

plans others have for him.

Pip is a poor boy, but he has high hopes--great expectations. He doesn't intend to spend his life in the marshes as a blacksmith's helper. Someday he is going to move to London and become a gentleman. Indeed,Pip already knows two rich people--Mrs. Havisham,the bitter old woman who lives in a mansion where all the clocks are stopped; and the girl who lives with her,the beautiful Estella...

But all his great hopes and dreams seem dashed the night he is confronted in the marsh by an escaped con vict who growls, red-eyed and desperate: "Bring me food, boy! Or I'll eat your heart and liver too...." Is it all over for Pip? Or will this be the beginning of his great est adventure?

The story of the orphan Pip and the mysterious for tune that falls into his lap has intrigued and enchanted millions of readers.