Charles Dickens is one of the world's most revered novelists, and certainly the writer most associated with the Christmas season. But this important piece of Dickens's work, kept stowed away during his lifetime, never received the fame of his other holiday books. As endearing and inspiring as his world-famous classic A Christmas Carol, The Life of Our Lord is destined to find its place in our hearts and under our trees.

Charles Dickens was born in 1812 near Portsmouth where his father was a clerk in the navy pay office. The family moved to London in 1823, but their fortunes were severely impaired. Dickens was sent to work in a blacking-warehouse when his father was imprisoned for debt. Both experiences deeply affected the future novelist. In 1833, he began contributing stories to newspapers and magazines, and in 1836 started the serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. Thereafter, Dickens published his major novels over the course of the next twenty years, from Nicholas Nickleby to Little Dorrit. He also edited the journals Household Words and All the Year Round. Dickens died in June 1870.