This "New Norton Critical Edition" of "Oliver Twist" reprints the 1846 text, the last edition Dickens substantially revised. A section on background and sources focuses on The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, with source materials that include parliamentary debates and an accont of a riot. Twenty significant 20th-century interpretations of the book are included in the "Criticism" section, and the "Early Reviews" comprises eight witty reactions to the novel.