This was definitely a slow burner. The first half of the book consisted of introducing the characters and weaving relationships between them, in much depth, with very little action or movement. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it just made it harder to read for long stretches as it often became rather confusing or tedious, trying to remember the intricacies of the family trees. Around half way, the book skips 5 years, and seems to jump immediately into the main theme of the book; the Gordon riots. It was a huge switch from the subtle melancholia of the first part of the book to then dive into this rampant craze of drunkenness and violence, but from then on it was much more engrossing, and the character development in the first half suddenly seemed necessary; the calm before the storm as it were. The second half is rather heartbreaking at times, and perfectly written to convey the sense of heightening dread and the power of the flood of rioters, which Barnaby is swept away in. Dickens definitely makes a point in this latter half of the book; that riots are not the way to be heard. They lose all sense of proportion and innocent people get caught up in them. This is the less esteemed of Dickens' historical novels, but it is very good nevertheless, and I look forward to reading A Tale of Two Cities.