This talk by John Case (St Edmund Hall, Oxford) was recorded and is available here.

In January 1842, Charles Dickens arrived in Boston, his first visit to "the republic of my dreams." At the age of 29 he was already a celebrated novelist and was fêted wherever he traveled. During his four-month visit, he traveled widely visiting the White House as well as prisons. In Richmond, he observed first-hand the institution of slavery. He traveled west of St. Louis to see an American prairie and toured America's most populous city, New York.

Dickens saw much to admire and praise in America, but also a great deal to criticize, and so his love affair with the United States soured for several reasons, with mutual disillusionment and recriminations. 'American Notes', the book he wrote about his experiences of visiting the USA in 1842, remains an entertaining and informative travel classic which makes good (and sometimes shocking) reading even today.