A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities (1859) was first published in thirty-one weekly instalments in the periodical All the Year Round. Set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution, this is Dickens’ second historical novel. While portraying tyrannical French aristocracy who were in turn brutalized by the revolutionaries, Dickens, in this book, also draws many ugly parallels between the French and English social structures of the time. Over the years, there have been numerous adaptations of the novel such as the 1935 Academy Award-nominated Hollywood film of the same name, and three BBC mini-series productions, among others. In 1938, the novel was also turned into a radio play with Orson Welles as Dr Manette and Sydney Carton.