It depicts Coketown, a typical red-brick industrial city of the north. In its schools and factories children and adults are caged and enslaved, with no personal freedom until their spirit is broken. Against this social backdrop where harsh regimes are enforced by the likes of Josiah Bounderby, the pompous self-made man, and Gradgrind, the censorious disciplinarian, the personal tragedies of Louisa Gradgrind and Stephen Blackpool are played out.

Despite its vivid portrait of the horrors of the newly mechanized society, Hard Times is shot through with a wit, good humour and a conviction that entertainment is essential for human happiness, making it one of the most uplifting of Dickens's novels.

         BOOK THE FIRST.  SOWING

CHAPTER

L THE ONE THING NREDFUL

  IL MURDERING THE INNOCENTS

 III. A LOOPHOLR

 IV. MR. BOUNDERBY

V. THE KEY-NOTE

  VI. SLRARY'S HORSEMANSHIP

VII. Mms. SPAJ~SIT

VIII. NEVER WOHDER

 IX. SissY'S PROGRESS

  X. STEPMEN BLACKPOOL

 XI. No WAY OUT

XII. THE OLD WOMAN

XIII. RACHARL

XIV THE GREAT MANUFACTURER

XV. FATHER AND DAUGHTER

XVI. HUSBAND AND WIFE

        BOOK THE SECOND. REAPING

I. EPFECTS IN THE BANK

  II. MR. JAMES HARTHOUSE

 III. THE WHELP

 IV. MEN AHD BROTHERS

  V. MEN AND MASTERS

  VI. FADING AWAY

VII. GUNPOWDER

VIII. EXPLOSIOM

 IX. HEARING THE LAST OF IT

X, MRS. SPARSIT'S STAIRCASE

 XI. LOWER AND LOWER

XII. DOWN

       BOOK THE THIRD. GARNERING

CHAPTER

I. ANOTHER THING NEEDFUL

  II. VERY RIDICULOUS

 III. VERY DECIDED

 IV. LOST

V. FOUND

 VI. THE STARLIGHT

VII. WHELP-HUNTING

VIII. PHILOSOPHICAL

 IX. FINAL