A Tale of Two Cities

This classic and much-loved novel about the French Revolution offers deep social commentary and an intriguing cast of characters.

One of the best-selling novels of all time, Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities recounts the story of Alexandre Manette, a French physician who is released from a long imprisonment on the eve of the French Revolution. As he sets out for London to find his daughter Lucie, social and political turmoil in Paris lead to the Reign of Terror. Against this backdrop, the reader is introduced to a variety of characters and storylines in both cities that are woven together to tell the story of a tumultuous era. This enduring classic showcases at its finest Dickens’s flair for creating rich detail and memorable characters.