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A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
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A Tale of Two Cities

Introduction by Simon Schama

By Charles Dickens

By Charles Dickens

By Charles Dickens
Introduction by Simon Schama

By Charles Dickens
Introduction by Simon Schama

By Charles Dickens

By Charles Dickens

By Charles Dickens

By Charles Dickens

By Charles Dickens
Read by John Lee

By Charles Dickens
Read by John Lee

Best Seller

Part of Everyman's Library Classics Series

Mass Market Paperback $6.95

May 01, 1989 | ISBN 9780553211764

Hardcover $30.00

Feb 23, 1993 | ISBN 9780679420736

Ebook $1.99

Jun 03, 2003 | ISBN 9780553897616

Ebook $3.99

Oct 23, 2000 | ISBN 9780679641322

Audiobook Download $22.00

Dec 21, 2010 | 857 Minutes

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    A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
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    Dec 21, 2010 | ISBN 9780307916082 | 857 Minutes

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    • $6.95

      May 01, 1989 | ISBN 9780553211764

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • $30.00

      Feb 23, 1993 | ISBN 9780679420736

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Jun 03, 2003 | ISBN 9780553897616

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Oct 23, 2000 | ISBN 9780679641322

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Dec 21, 2010 | ISBN 9780307916082

      857 Minutes

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    About A Tale of Two Cities

    With his sublime parting words, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done…" Sidney Carton joins that exhalted group of Dickensian characters who have earned a permanent place in the popular literary imagination. His dramatic story, set against the volcanic fury of the French Revolution and pervaded by the ominous rumble of the death carts trundling toward the guillotine, is the heart-stirring tale of a heroic soul in an age gone mad. A masterful pageant of idealism, love, and adventure — in a Paris bursting with revolutionary frenzy, and a London alive with anxious anticipation — A Tale of Two Cities is one of Dickens’s most energetic and exciting works.

    About A Tale of Two Cities

    Lucie Manette had been separated from her father for eighteen years while he languished in Paris’s most feared prison, the Bastille. Finally reunited, the Manettes’s fortunes become inextricably intertwined with those of two men, the heroic aristocrat Darnay, and the dissolute lawyer, Carton. Their story, which encompasses violence, revenge, love and redemption, is grippingly played out against the backdrop of the terrifying brutality of the French Revolution.

    A Tale of Two Cities begins on a muddy English road in an atmosphere charged with mystery and drama, and it ends in the Paris of the French Revolution with one of the most famous acts of self-sacrifice in literature. In between lies one of Charles 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 the character of Sydney Carton, who sacrifices himself upon 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, and is illuminated by Dickens’s lively comedy.

    This edition reprints the original Everyman introduction by G. K. Chesterton and includes sixteen illustrations by Phiz.


    About A Tale of Two Cities

    A Tale of Two Cities is Charles Dickens’s great historical novel, set against the violent upheaval of the French Revolution. The most famous and perhaps the most popular of his works, it compresses an event of immense complexity to the scale of a family history, with a cast of characters that includes a bloodthirsty ogress and an antihero as believably flawed as any in modern fiction. Though the least typical of the author’s novels, A Tale of Two Cities still underscores many of his enduring themes–imprisonment, injustice, and social anarchy, resurrection and the renunciation that fosters renewal.

    Over the years the Modern Library has become a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with affordable, beautifully produced, hardbound editions of important works of literature and thought. Perfect for students, the Modern Library comprises over 170 titles by such oft-studied authors as Plato, Chaucer, Bronte, Dostoevsky, Faulkner, Joyce, Keats, Shakespeare and Chekhov.

    And coming soon, more Modern Library titles on the Random House Web Site.

    About A Tale of Two Cities

    A Tale of Two Cities is Charles Dickens’s great historical novel, set against the violent upheaval of the French Revolution. The most famous and perhaps the most popular of his works, it compresses an event of immense complexity to the scale of a family history, with a cast of characters that includes a bloodthirsty ogress and an antihero as believably flawed as any in modern fiction. Though the least typical of the author’s novels, A Tale of Two Cities still underscores many of his enduring themes–imprisonment, injustice, and social anarchy, resurrection and the renunciation that fosters renewal.

    "Dickens’s French Revolution is probably more like the French Revolution than Carlyle’s," said G. K. Chesterton. "In dignity and eloquence A Tale of Two Cities almost stands alone among the books by Dickens."

    About 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

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    Listen to a sample from A Tale of Two Cities

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    About Charles Dickens

    Charles Dickens was born in a little house in Landport, Portsea, England, on February 7, 1812. The second of eight children, he grew up in a family frequently beset by financial insecurity. When the family fortunes improved, Charles went back to… More about Charles Dickens

    About Charles Dickens

    Charles Dickens was born in a little house in Landport, Portsea, England, on February 7, 1812. The second of eight children, he grew up in a family frequently beset by financial insecurity. When the family fortunes improved, Charles went back to… More about Charles Dickens

    About Charles Dickens

    Charles Dickens was born in a little house in Landport, Portsea, England, on February 7, 1812. The second of eight children, he grew up in a family frequently beset by financial insecurity. When the family fortunes improved, Charles went back to… More about Charles Dickens

    About Charles Dickens

    Charles Dickens was born in a little house in Landport, Portsea, England, on February 7, 1812. The second of eight children, he grew up in a family frequently beset by financial insecurity. When the family fortunes improved, Charles went back to… More about Charles Dickens

    About Charles Dickens

    Charles Dickens was born in a little house in Landport, Portsea, England, on February 7, 1812. The second of eight children, he grew up in a family frequently beset by financial insecurity. When the family fortunes improved, Charles went back to… More about Charles Dickens

    Product Details

    Category: Classic Fiction | Historical Fiction | Military Fiction

    Mass Market Paperback | $6.95
    Published by Bantam Classics
    May 01, 1989 | 416 Pages | 4-3/16 x 6-7/8 | ISBN 9780553211764

    Category: Classic Fiction | Historical Fiction | Military Fiction

    Hardcover | $30.00
    Published by Everyman’s Library
    Feb 23, 1993 | 472 Pages | 5 x 8 | ISBN 9780679420736

    Category: Classic Fiction | Historical Fiction | Military Fiction

    Ebook | $1.99
    Published by Bantam Classics
    Jun 03, 2003 | 416 Pages | ISBN 9780553897616

    Category: Classic Fiction | Historical Fiction | Military Fiction

    Ebook | $3.99
    Published by Modern Library
    Oct 23, 2000 | 464 Pages | ISBN 9780679641322

    Category: Historical Fiction | Military Fiction | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $22.00
    Published by Listening Library
    Dec 21, 2010 | 857 Minutes | ISBN 9780307916082

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    Praise

    “[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

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