Amazon.com description: Product Description: Nicholas Nickleby is a kind-hearted and honest young man who struggles to eke out a living to support his poverty stricken mother and sister. In order to earn his keep, Nicholas takes a teaching position at a deprived boarding school full of poor and hungry students, where under the rule of the cruel and corrupt one-eyed Wackford Squeers, his honourable nature chafes against the brutal regime. But in this depraved environment, sometimes even friendship and compassion can flourish..."Nicholas Nickleby" is the captivating story of one man's journey to fight a school's brutal and tyrannical rule, and a lesson in the consequences for those who conspire to bring about his downfall. This special edition features an exclusive introduction by the highly-acclaimed writer Peter Ackroyd, one of Britain's leading literary biographers.