Hard Times book - For These Times (commonly known as Hard Times) is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. Hard Times appraises English society and highlights the social and economic pressures of the times. One of Dickens's reasons for writing Hard Times was that sales of his weekly periodical, Household Words, were low, and it was hoped the novel's publication in instalments would boost circulation - as indeed proved to be the case. Hard Times book has received a mixed response from critics. Critics such as George Bernard Shaw and Thomas Macaulay have mainly focused on Dickens's treatment of trade unions and his post-Industrial Revolution pessimism regarding the divide between capitalist mill owners and undervalued workers during the Victorian era. F. R. Leavis, a great admirer of the book, included it-but not Dickens' work as a whole-as part of his Great Tradition of English novels. Hard Times follows a classical tripartite structure, and the titles of each book are related to Galatians 6:7, "For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Book I is entitled "Sowing", Book II is entitled "Reaping", and the third is "Garnering." Hard Times written by the author Charles Dickens is a great book highly recommended to read .