A Tale of Two Cities

Traces the private lives of a group of people caught up in the cataclysm of the French Revolution and the Terror. The author based his historical detail on Carlyle's "The French Revolution", and his own observations and investigations during his numerous visits to Paris. A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Dickens’ greatest historical novel, 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. ‘The best story I have written’ was Dickens’ own verdict on A Tale of Two Cities, and the reader is unlikely to disagree with this judgement of a story which combines historical fact with the author’s unsurpassed genius for poignant tales of human suffering, self-sacrifice, and redemption.