American Notes

The most famous English writer in the world goes to America. America is not amused.

Charles Dickens's travelogue of his 1842 journey across the United States is a fascinating, funny, and frequently furious account of a nation still finding its feet—and a writer who refused to pretend he liked what he saw.

Dickens arrives in Boston expecting to find a land of freedom, democracy, and boundless energy. Instead, he finds spitting, slavery, and a press that follows him into the bathroom. He visits factories, prisons, and insane asylums, praising American innovation while recoiling at American manners. He meets President John Tyler, whom he finds unremarkable. He witnesses a Congress where gentlemen call each other liars. And everywhere he goes, he is mobbed by admirers who have read The Pickwick Papers and want to shake his hand. But the real shock comes when Dickens travels south and confronts American slavery—a horror he denounces with an indignation that cost him many American friends.

This is Dickens at his most opinionated and unfiltered: a travel book that is also a moral indictment. American Notes infuriated the United States when it was published—but it also forced Americans to look in the mirror. It remains a brilliant, cranky, and essential document of a nation at a crossroads.

• A vivid snapshot of America in the 1840s, from steamboats to the White House

• Includes one of the most powerful condemnations of slavery ever written by a foreign visitor

• Essential reading for Dickens completists and anyone interested in transatlantic history

Available in multiple formats:

• Paperback & Hardcover: Beautifully designed print editions presenting the complete, unabridged text made to last.

• Ebook: DRM-free EPUB compatible with Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, and all major e-readers.

• Audiobook: Professionally narrated, complete and unabridged, available on all major audiobook platforms.

A beautifully crafted edition for your shelf, your device, or your ears—or the perfect gift for anyone who knows that the best travel writing tells you as much about the traveler as the destination.

About the Author

Charles Dickens (1812–1870) was an English novelist, journalist, and social critic, widely regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Born in Portsmouth, he endured a childhood of poverty and forced labor in a blacking factory after his father was imprisoned for debt—experiences that shaped his lifelong commitment to social reform. In 1842, at the height of his fame, Dickens and his wife, Catherine, embarked on a five-month tour of the United States and Canada. American Notes was published later that year and was met with outrage in America, where many felt Dickens had repaid their hospitality with insults. He later fictionalized his American experiences in Martin Chuzzlewit (1844). His major works include Oliver Twist (1837), David Copperfield (1850), Bleak House (1853), Hard Times (1854), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1861). Dickens died of a stroke in 1870 and is buried in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey.