Charles Dickens Victorian London which inspired Dickens – fascinating pictures

Google's latest Doodle marks the 200th Birthday of british novelist Charles Dickens but also marks the first time that the company has used their logo change to specifically promote a product or service.

England is being blighted by Dickensian levels of illiteracy despite billions of pounds spent on state education, the Government admitted today. The Schools Minister said there were "still shadows of Charles Dickens's world in our own".

Yesterday was, of course, the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens's birth. I say, of course, because you would have been hard-pushed to miss it. The British Council organised a 24-hour “readathon” of his works, starting in Australia with Dombey and

If Charles Dickens had to write his stories in 140 characters, he'd no doubt ask: "Please, Sir, can I have some more?" But if he were around today and wanted to stay in touch with the Twitter generation, he might well have to give the online world of

Charles Dickens was born 200 years ago on Tuesday, and in addition to the online tributes one is accustomed to – a Google doodle, becoming a trending topic on Twitter – the British Council is organizing a read-a-thon across the world.