A Tale of Two Cities: Charles Dickens (Penguin Classics)

A Tale of Two Cities: Charles Dickens (Penguin Classics)

by Charles Dickens (Author), Charles Dickens (Author), Richard Maxwell (Editor), Charles Dickens (Author), Charles Dickens (Author)

Synopsis

Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" portrays a world on fire, split between Paris and London during the brutal and bloody events of the French Revolution. This "Penguin Classics" edition of is edited with an introduction and notes by Richard Maxwell. 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...' After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille the aging Dr Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There, two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil lanes of London, they are all drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror and soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine. This edition uses the text as it appeared in its first serial publication in 1859 to convey the full scope of Dickens's vision, and includes the original illustrations by H.K. Browne ("Phiz"). Richard Maxwell's introduction discusses the intricate interweaving of epic drama with personal tragedy. Charles Dickens is one of the best-loved novelists in the English language, whose 200th anniversary was celebrated in 2012. His most famous books, including "Oliver Twist", "Great Expectations", "A Tale of Two Cities", "David Copperfield" and "The Pickwick Papers", have been adapted for stage and screen and read by millions. If you enjoyed "A Tale of Two Cities", you might like Dickens' "The Old Curiosity Shop", also available in "Penguin Classics".

$10.29

Quantity

17 in stock

More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 544
Edition: Updated and REV ed.
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Published: 30 Jan 2003

ISBN 10: 0141439602
ISBN 13: 9780141439600
Prizes: Runner-up for The BBC Big Read Top 100 2003. Shortlisted for BBC Big Read Top 100 2003.

Media Reviews
[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 Introduction by Simon Schama
Author Bio
Charles Dickens (1812-70) was a political reporter and journalist whose popularity was established by the phenomenally successful Pickwick Papers (1836-7). His novels captured and held the public imagination over a period of more than thirty years. Richard Maxwell teaches in the Comparative Literature & English departments at Yale.