Dickensian is a language, not an adjective. Conrad speaks it fluently.

The Spectator World

If you have not read Dickens for a while – or ever – this reading of the novels will convert you. Reading Conrad, who for many years taught English literature at Oxford, makes you realise why so many of his hundreds of former pupils adore and praise him.

A. N. Wilson, The Oldie

Riveting…Conrad plunders Dickens's novels, essays, journalism and diaries for illuminating details that he artfully weaves together into something akin to a series of inventories.

The Times

Peter Conrad is a dancer and acrobat whose brilliance, audacity and courage forever defy our ungenerous hopes of a pratfall. Nobody else can do what he does and get away with it.

Independent

Conrad has published criticism so sharp you can cut your fingers on it.

New York Observer

There is little Conrad doesn't notice, making his book seem less like a traditional critical account than the result of someone who has managed to get inside Dickens's head and have a good rummage… Conrad's enthusiasm means that even readers who aren't quite sure where they are going are still likely to enjoy the journey.

The Spectator