A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is Charles Dickens second historical novel (his seventeenth novel overall). Set in London and Paris, both before and during the French Revolution, it depicts the plight of the French common citizens under the brutal oppression of the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, and then the resulting savage brutality of the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats afterwards. The book follows the lives of several people through these events. The two main protagonists are Charles Darnay, a French once-aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Sydney Carton, a dissipated English barrister who endeavors to redeem his ill-spent life out of love for Darnay's wife, Lucie Manette. The book features the original illustrations of Hablot K. Browne (Phiz) and F.O.C. Darley