Hard Times cover art

Hard Times

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Hard Times

By: Charles Dickens
Narrated by: Patrick Tull
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

 In the spare, no-nonsense Gradgrind household, Tom and Louisa are raised according to their father's unyielding guiding philosophy: facts - nothing but facts. But while a ban on imagination is mere policy for the Gradgrind children, lack of whimsy is a necessary survival skill in Coketown, the grimy and grim working-class burg devoted to nothing but the relentless advance of industry...©1987 Recorded Books, Inc. Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Charles Dickens Classic: A Tale of Two Cities (Annotated) with a Historical Introduction cover art
Dombey and Son cover art
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens cover art
Lady Windermere's Fan cover art
The Scarlet Plague [Classic Tales Edition] cover art
Oliver Twist cover art
Great Expectations cover art
David Copperfield cover art
A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings cover art
Charles Dickens Classics Collection: A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol and The Chimes cover art
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: A Radio Dramatization cover art
Nicholas Nickleby cover art
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby cover art
The Vicar of Wakefield cover art
Our Mutual Friend cover art
Classic Romance cover art

Editor reviews

As the title suggests, the characters do not have much room for leisure and horseplay in this audiobook from Charles Dickens. Hard Times, performed with a biting musicality by veteran narrator Patrick Tull, is one of Dickens's later works and is a serious examination on the effects of the Industrial Revolution. The story begins with the no-nonsense Gradgrind household, where Mr. Gradgrind instills his strict teachings of facts and only facts. As the story progresses, the classic humor of Dickens seeps in, and Mr. Gradgrind receives some education himself. Whether it's the artful prose or the social commentary, there's plenty to enjoy as Patrick Tull takes listeners through this classic from Charles Dickens.
All stars
Most relevant
Although the narration is great, Patrick Tull is fabulous to listen to, the sound quality is terrible. It's like listening through custard!

Hard Times

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.