Other editions of book A Tale of Two Cities

Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens’s most popular and dramatic stories.It begins on a muddy English road in an atmosphere charged with mystery and it ends in the Paris of the Revolution with one of the most famous acts of self-sacrifice in literature. In between lies one of Dickens’s most exciting books—a historical novel that, generation after generation, has given readers access to the profound human dramas that lie behind cataclysmic social and political events. Famous for its vivid characters, including the courageous French nobleman Charles Darnay, the vengeful revolutionary Madame Defarge, and cynical Englishman Sydney Carton, who redeems his ill-spent life in a climactic moment at the guillotine (“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done”), the novel is also a powerful study of crowd psychology and the dark emotions aroused by the Revolution, illuminated by Dickens’s lively comedy.With an Introduction by Simon Schama

Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton are alike in appearance, different in character and in love with the same woman. In the midst of the French Revolution, Darnay, who has fled to London to escape the cruelty of the French nobility, must return to Paris to rescue his servant from death. But he endangers his own life and is captured. Carton may be able to help, but will his resemblance be enough to save Darnay's life?With an enticing introduction by bestselling author, Roddy Doyle.

Think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you!The backdrop of Western Europe right before the beginning of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror is perfectly summed up in the famous first lines “It was the best of times…”A Tale of Two Cities follows Dr. Alexandre Manette in 1775 as he has just been released from an eighteen year prison sentence. His daughter, Lucie, who is incredulous at the news her father is still alive, travels to Paris and finds her father making shoes while staying with a former servant. Together they return to England only to be summoned once again for the trial of a Frenchman who is accused of treason.