Hard Times
Complete textThomas Gradgrind insists that children need facts alone, while the industrial town of Coketown measures usefulness in similarly narrow terms. His family and the workers around the factory owner Bounderby expose the personal costs of an education and economy suspicious of imagination.
Continue readingAbout Hard Times
The town's repeated patterns of smoke, machinery and official language make a system of thought visible in everyday surroundings. Circus life offers a contrasting vocabulary of skill and sympathy. Watch how people described through statistics or rules become harder to understand when their particular desires and loyalties demand attention.
Reading focus
Compare the language of measurable facts with the experiences that Gradgrind's educational principles cannot accommodate.
This reading edition contains 103,279 words in 37 original sections. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.
Author: Charles Dickens. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.
Opening excerpt
‘Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!’
Contents
All sections- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER I THE ONE THING NEEDFUL2 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER II MURDERING THE INNOCENTS10 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER III A LOOPHOLE8 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER IV MR. BOUNDERBY12 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER V THE KEYNOTE10 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER VI SLEARY’S HORSEMANSHIP23 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER VII MRS. SPARSIT11 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER VIII NEVER WONDER10 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER IX SISSY’S PROGRESS13 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER X STEPHEN BLACKPOOL10 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER XI NO WAY OUT13 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER XII THE OLD WOMAN9 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER XIII RACHAEL14 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER XIV THE GREAT MANUFACTURER8 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER XV FATHER AND DAUGHTER13 min
- BOOK THE FIRST SOWING — CHAPTER XVI HUSBAND AND WIFE9 min
- BOOK THE SECOND REAPING — CHAPTER I EFFECTS IN THE BANK22 min
- BOOK THE SECOND REAPING — CHAPTER II MR. JAMES HARTHOUSE14 min
- BOOK THE SECOND REAPING — CHAPTER III THE WHELP9 min
- BOOK THE SECOND REAPING — CHAPTER IV MEN AND BROTHERS14 min
- BOOK THE SECOND REAPING — CHAPTER V MEN AND MASTERS12 min
- BOOK THE SECOND REAPING — CHAPTER VI FADING AWAY21 min
- BOOK THE SECOND REAPING — CHAPTER VII GUNPOWDER22 min
- BOOK THE SECOND REAPING — CHAPTER VIII EXPLOSION22 min
- BOOK THE SECOND REAPING — CHAPTER IX HEARING THE LAST OF IT14 min
- BOOK THE SECOND REAPING — CHAPTER X MRS. SPARSIT’S STAIRCASE8 min
- BOOK THE SECOND REAPING — CHAPTER XI LOWER AND LOWER15 min
- BOOK THE SECOND REAPING — CHAPTER XII DOWN8 min
- BOOK THE THIRD GARNERING — CHAPTER I ANOTHER THING NEEDFUL11 min
- BOOK THE THIRD GARNERING — CHAPTER II VERY RIDICULOUS16 min
- BOOK THE THIRD GARNERING — CHAPTER III VERY DECIDED14 min
- BOOK THE THIRD GARNERING — CHAPTER IV LOST16 min
- BOOK THE THIRD GARNERING — CHAPTER V FOUND15 min
- BOOK THE THIRD GARNERING — CHAPTER VI THE STARLIGHT18 min
- BOOK THE THIRD GARNERING — CHAPTER VII WHELP-HUNTING20 min
- BOOK THE THIRD GARNERING — CHAPTER VIII PHILOSOPHICAL12 min
- BOOK THE THIRD GARNERING — CHAPTER IX FINAL9 min
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Is this the complete Hard Times?
This edition contains the complete English literary text, with 37 sections and 103,279 words. This reading edition preserves the checked English text and its section order. No study notes have been added.
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