The novel "Hard Times" deals with social and moral issues and is Dickens's archetype work, filled with family problems, alienation, shoddy values, and misery. It was published in 1854 and set in the fictional city of Coketown, an industrial town inspired by Preston, and tells the story of the family of Thomas Gradgrind, a man obsessed with misguided "utilitarian" values, which lead him to trust facts, statistics, and practicality over emotions. Gradgrind raises his children, Louisa and Tom, according to these same views, imposing a barren existence on them. Important critics of the time, such as Macaulay, criticized the work for its supposed "dismal socialism," but it has gained a good reputation since, earning the favor of George Bernard Shaw. This edition of the Macmillan Collector's Library is illustrated by Harry French, with an afterword by David Stuart Davies. Designed to appeal to book lovers, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully giftable editions of classic titles.