A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Darnay is a French noble falsely accused of treason. Sydney Carton is a self-loathing junior barrister enlisted to defend him. Between them is a shared love for the daughter of a former Bastille prisoner. Soon their interlocking fates will be decided as the French Revolution is ignited and the Reign of Terror begins...Novel by Charles Dickens published both serially and in book form in 1859. The story is set in the late 18th century against the background of the French Revolution. Although Dickens borrowed from Thomas Carlyles history The French Revolution for his sprawling tale of London and revolutionary Paris the novel offers more drama than accuracy. The scenes of large-scale mob violence are especially vivid if superficial in historical understanding. The complex plot involves Sydney Cartons sacrifice of his own life on behalf of his friends Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette. While political events drive the story Dickens takes a decidedly antipolitical tone lambasting both aristocratic tyranny and revolutionary excess--the latter memorably caricatured in Madame Defarge who knits beside the guillotine. The book is perhaps best known for its opening lines It was the best of times it was the worst of times and for Cartons last speech in which he says of his replacing Darnay in a prison cell It is a far far better thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far far better rest that I go to than I have ever known. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature