16 h 14 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does London reveal when a sleepless walker stays on its streets until dawn?
In The Uncommercial Traveller, Charles Dickens becomes a traveller with nothing to sell and every reason to look closely. His imaginary firm, Human Interest Brothers, sends him into the world without samples or orders. These essays and sketches follow him through London at night, into workhouses and aboard ships, with room for both comic scenes and sharp social argument.
Night Walks follows his restless wandering until dawn. A Small Star in the East takes him to a children's hospital and the crowded streets around it. In Bound for the Great Salt Lake, he boards the emigrant ship Amazon. Dullborough Town turns toward boyhood, bringing memory into a collection where humour and pity often sit close together.
What you’ll discover
- London after dark Walk beside a sleepless observer as the city's streets hold his attention until morning.
- Poverty seen up close Enter workhouses and a children's hospital, where Dickens looks directly at lives shaped by poverty.
- Strangers aboard a ship Step aboard the Amazon with a traveller willing to look beyond an emigrant's reputation.
- The pull of childhood Return to Dullborough Town and explore how boyhood memories shape what the traveller sees.
- Humour beside pity Enjoy Dickens's shifts from comedy to sadness, with neither feeling kept apart from the other.
Who will love it
For readers who love Dickens's voice and are curious about Victorian London, its poor and its streets, and anyone who enjoys comic scenes, sharp social argument and childhood memories.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Look at life as a traveller
- The city at night tells the truth
- Poverty must be seen in person
- Strangers may be better than their reputation
- Childhood memory shapes how we see
- Humour and pity can work together
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 16 h 14 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works · 60-day guarantee
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
60-day money-back guarantee. Love it or get your money back: ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Il viaggiatore non commerciale in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Il viaggiatore non commerciale
by Charles Dickens · 1860
Dickens walks London at night, bringing its poor face to face with readers through laughter and pity.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free60-day money-back guaranteeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
Look at life as a traveller
Dickens opens by inventing a character who is not quite himself and not quite someone else. The uncommercial traveller carries no samples and takes no orders. He moves about on foot, by rail and by boat, and he reports what he sees to the readers of the magazine. The joke gives him license to wander into any place and ask any question.
This stance matters because it sets the rules of the whole book. The traveller is curious first and judging second. He often starts in a light mood, teasing a waiter, a railway refreshment room or a rambling old inn, and only later does the weight of the subject appear. A reader learns to expect both sides in one essay.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Il viaggiatore non commerciale
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. And if you have paid, the 60-day money-back guarantee applies: ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
What is The Uncommercial Traveller about?
It is a collection of Dickens's essays on life in London, English towns, ships and France. A fictional traveller, working for Human Interest Brothers, observes poverty, memory, travel and ordinary people with humour and sympathy.
Why is Dickens called the uncommercial traveller?
A commercial traveller was a salesman on the road. Dickens plays on the term by saying he sells nothing and travels only for the firm of Human Interest Brothers, which gives him a reason to look at everything.
Is The Uncommercial Traveller fiction or true?
The pieces are non-fiction sketches based on Dickens's real walks and visits, though shaped with a novelist's humour and some playful invention. They first appeared in All the Year Round from 1860, and were collected in 1861 and 1868.
The author
Charles Dickens
1812–1870 · English novelist
Charles Dickens was an English novelist born in Portsmouth in 1812. He lived in London and later at Gad’s Hill Place in Kent, where he died in 1870. His books include The Pickwick Papers (1836–1837), A Christmas Carol (1843), David Copperfield (1849–1850), and Great Expectations (1860–1861).
More by Charles Dickens
All 27 books
Free
Free
More like this
Free
Free
Free
FreeOur mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in biography & letters
See all
Free
Free
