Introduction

General

The Epic Book Group was formed in 2022 by a group of avid readers who expressed a common wish to tackle the ultimate Epic Novel – War and Peace. It was agreed that they would read this novel and then meet to discuss their views over dinner in a suitably atmospheric restaurant. The event was such a success that many of their friends joined, and it has now become an annual event, with a weighty classic of Nineteenth Century European Literature being read each year and then discussed in January of the following year. This site presents the texts that have been read (or agreed to read) to date and resources associated with them – generally consisting of the complete text, character listing, audio and video versions, as well as links and other material.

Books

The George and Vulture

If the Epic Book Group can be said to have a base, it is The George & Vulture Chop House, 3 Castle Court in the City of London. The Inn has many links to Charles Dickens, who was a frequent customer and mentioned it around 20 times in The Pickwick Papers. When it was threatened with demolition, Cedric Charles Dickens, the author’s great-grandson, campaigned to save it. There has been an inn on the site, which is off Lombard Street in the historic City of London district, since 1142. It was said to be a meeting place of the notorious Hellfire Club and has long been a revered City steakhouse.

Since 1950, it has been the home of his Dickens Pickwick Club and in the same year, it became the venue for the Christmas Day Dickens family gathering in the Dickens Room(pictured) on the top floor. In the nineteenth century, this floor was given over to guest bedrooms, and Dickens spent many nights there himself. The Dickens Room is where our annual dinner is held.