A Tale of Two Cities (Penguin Classics)

Dickens, Charles; Maxwell, Richard

ISBN 10: 0140437304 / ISBN 13: 9780140437300

Published by Penguin Classics (edition Reissue), 2000

About this Item

The item might be beaten up but readable. May contain markings or highlighting, as well as stains, bent corners, or any other major defect, but the text is not obscured in any way.

Seller Inventory # 0140437304-7-1

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Tale of Two Cities (Penguin Classics)
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (edition Reissue)
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140437304
• ISBN 13: 9780140437300
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: Reissue.
• Condition: Fair

About this title

Synopsis

One of Dickens's most haunting novels, A Tale of Two Cities has, since its first serial publication in 1859, continued to exert a grip on the popular imagination. The two cities of the title--a lethal, vengeful Paris during the French Revolution and a leafy, tranquil London--are only one of the novel's stark dichotomies, which are continued as Syndey Carton and Charles Darnay are drawn toward their separate destinies--their lives touched by the same woman.

In his absorbing Introduction, Richard Maxwell discusses the novel's intricate design, in which Dickens magnificently interweaves epic drama with personal tragedy. Comparing it to Thomas Carlyle's French Revolution and Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, Maxwell argues that A Tale of Two Cities "stands as Dickens's most memorable effort to see a world in a very small space; a work short by its nature . . . yet curiously at its ease among giants."

About the Author

Charles Dickens (1812-1870), despite an impoverished childhood and little formal education, achieved lasting artistic and popular success with the novels Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations, all of which were originally published in serial form.
Richard Maxwell is currently Professor of English at Valparaiso University, Indiana.