“A Tale of Two Cities” was first published in 1859 and was Dickens’s greatest historical novel. It traces the private lives of a group of people caught up in the cataclysm of the French Revolution and the Terror. Dickens based his historical detail on Carlyle’s great work "The French Revolution" – and also on his own observations and investigations during his numerous visits to Paris. 

          “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .” With these famous words, Charles Dickens plunges the reader into one of history’s most explosive eras—the French Revolution. From the storming of the Bastille to the relentless drop of the guillotine, Dickens vividly captures the terror and upheaval of that tumultuous period.