Hard Times (Collector's Edition) (Laminated Hardback with Jacket) (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781998621200)

Lives are caught in the ruthless grip of fact over feeling in the grim heart of an industrial town where smoke fills the air and machines never rest. Thomas Gradgrind raises his children to believe that imagination is worthless, but their world starts to crumble as cold logic clashes with life's messy realities. Amid the grinding gears of industry, kind-hearted worker Stephen Blackpool fights against a society that seems determined to break him. As their fates intertwine, the cost of sacrificing compassion for progress becomes painfully clear.

Hard Times holds a significant place in literary history as one of Charles Dickens' most pointed critiques of the Industrial Revolution. Through its vivid portrayal of a bleak, mechanized world, the novel exposes the dehumanizing effects of unchecked industrial growth and rigid utilitarianism. Dickens masterfully captures the struggles of the working class while challenging the era's obsession with progress at the expense of compassion. The novel remains a powerful reflection on the dangers of valuing profit and efficiency over human dignity.