A Tale of Two Cities

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille,the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different menCharles Darnayan exiled French aristocratand Sydney Cartona disreputable but brilliant English lawyerbecome enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of Londonthey are drawn against their will to the vengefulbloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terrorand they 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 visionand includes the original illustrations by H. K. Browne (‘Phiz’). Richard Maxwell’s introduction discusses the intricate interweaving of epic drama with personal tragedy. Book jacket.