Charles Dickens 
Tale of Two Cities 

With an Introduction and Notes by Peter Merchant, Principal Lecturer in English, Canterbury Christ Church University College.Illustrations by Hablot K. Browne (Phiz).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 and also on his own observations and investigations during numerous visits to Paris. 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.