Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens (1812-70) is one of the most recognized celebrities of English literature. His many books include Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol.

“No writer of the age was more beloved than Dickens.” —Tina Jordan, The New York Times“[A Tale of Two Cities] has the best of Dickens and the worst of Dickens: a dark, driven opening, and a celestial but melodramatic ending; a terrifyingly demonic villainess and (even by Dickens’ standards) an impossibly angelic heroine. Though its version of the French Revolution is brutally simplified, its engagement with the immense moral themes of rebirth and terror, justice, and sacrifice gets right to the heart of the matter…for every reader in the past hundred and forty years and for hundreds to come, it is an unforgettable ride.” —from the Everyman's Library introduction by Simon Schama