Originally conceived by its author as an entertaining story for Alice Liddell the daughter of an Oxford dean Alice's Adventures in Wonderland the fantastic tale of the young Alice's encounters with the White Rabbit the Cheshire Cat the Mad Hatter & the Queen of Hearts has captured the imaginations of young & old throughout the world since it was first published in 1865 In addition to the vivid & unforgettable characters it is the book's experimental style linguistic inventiveness & myriad of jokes & puzzles that account for the timeless fascination it inspires