What is the title of Charles Dickens's second Christmas book?

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The title of Charles Dickens's second Christmas book is The Chimes.

Published in 1844, The Chimes followed A Christmas Carol (1843) as the second of Dickens's five Christmas books. Its full title was The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In. Dickens wrote it during his stay in Italy, where the sound of church bells helped inspire the story.

The novella centres on Toby “Trotty” Veck, a poor messenger who works near a church, and his daughter Meg. The supernatural bells lead Trotty through disturbing visions about poverty, injustice and the consequences of treating vulnerable people harshly. Dickens intended the book as a forceful social warning, not merely a festive ghost story.

A common mix-up is The Cricket on the Hearth, which came next in 1845. The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man followed later, in 1846 and 1848 respectively.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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