A Tale of Two Cities (Vintage Classics Dickens Series)

Description

The Vintage Classics Dickens Series- six beautifully tailored editions of Dickens' most beloved books Dickens' masterful tale of Paris, London, and revolution. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... Lucie Manette has been separated from her father for eighteen years while he languished in Paris's most feared prison, the Bastille. Finally reunited, the Manettes' fortunes become inextricably intertwined with those of two men, the heroic aristocrat Darnay and the dissolute lawyer Carton. Their story, which encompasses violence, revenge, love and redemption, is grippingly played out against the backdrop of the terrifying brutality of the French Revolution. A beautiful and quirky collectible edition as part of the Vintage Classics Dickens series. Also includes- A Christmas Carol David Copperfield Great Expectations Hard Times Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens was born in Hampshire on February 7, 1812. His father was a clerk in the navy pay office, who was well paid but often ended up in financial troubles. When Dickens was twelve years old he was send to work in a shoe polish factory because his family had been taken to the debtors' prison. Fagin is named after a boy Dickens disliked at the factory. His career as a writer of fiction started in 1833 when his short stories and essays began to appear in periodicals. The Pickwick Papers, his first commercial success, was published in 1836. In the same year he married the daughter of his friend George Hogarth, Catherine Hogarth. The serialisation of Oliver Twist began in 1837 while The Pickwick Papers was still running. Many other novels followed and The Old Curiosity Shop brought Dickens international fame and he became a celebrity in America as well as Britain. He separated from his wife in 1858. Charles Dickens died on 9 June 1870, leaving his last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, unfinished. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

It is really one of his best. There are passages so spattered with violence and blood that you look out for the red blotches on the page in front of you...brilliantly plotted -- A.N. Wilson * Daily Telegraph * Dickens's story of love, espionage and Anglo-French relations * Scotsman * Dickens's magnificent account of the revolution and one of his best (and shortest) novels * Observer *