This is one of the most uplifting of Dickens's novels. This book is certainly different from all the other books by Charles Dickens as it has no particular central character. Well all the other novels by Dickens have a strong connection with London but this story depicts Coketown and Coketown only, a typical red-brick industrial city of the north. Hard Times is a very tragic and wonderfully described story of human oppression. Dickens's brilliant use of characterization can be seen in high form here and as always, his naming of his story's populace is entertaining by itself.