''His novels will endure as long as the language itself'' Peter AckroydDickens''s haunting late novel depicts the education and development of a young man, Pip, as his life is changed by a series of events - a terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to meet the bitter, decaying Miss Havisham and her beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella; the sudden generosity of a mysterious benefactor - and he discovers the true nature of his ''great expectations''. This definitive edition includes appendices on Dickens''s original ending, giving an illuminating glimpse into a great novelist at work.With an Introduction by DAVID TROTTER Edited and with notes by CHARLOTTE MITCHELL