&quot;The Battle of Life&quot; is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in 1846. It&#39;s the 4th of his five <i><b>Christmas Books</b></i>, coming after &quot;The Cricket on the Hearth&quot; and followed by &quot;The Haunted Man &amp; the Ghost&#39;s Bargain&quot;. However, this one breaks the tradition by not being concerned with Christmas. Rather, its subtitle, &quot;A Love Story&quot;, reveals more of the plot.<br /><br />The major events of &quot;The Battle of Life&quot; take place on land that once was a battleground. That is just a backdrop for Dickens&#39; idea of the real battle of life - finding and winning the right partner, so that life will go on to the next generation. The family that lives there is rather confused in its affections and intentions regarding who should end up with whom. We are thrust into the fight to make things work out, and, happily for a Christmas book, Dickens leads us on to a happy ending.<br /><br />Despite it is nowadays considered a classic, It&#39;s one of Dickens&#39; lesser-known works &amp; has never attained any high level of popularity, a trait it shares among the Christmas Books with &quot;The Haunted Man &amp; the Ghost&#39;s Bargain&quot;.