A Tale of Two CitiesSet against the backdrop of the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens’s most popular and dramatic stories. It begins on a muddy English road in an atmosphere charged with mystery and it ends in the Paris of the Revolution with one of the most famous acts of self-sacrifice in literature. In between lies one of Dickens’s most exciting books—a historical novel that, generation after generation, has given readers access to the profound human dramas that lie behind cataclysmic social and political events. Famous for its vivid characters, including the courageous French nobleman Charles Darnay, the vengeful revolutionary Madame Defarge, and cynical Englishman Sydney Carton, who redeems his ill-spent life in a climactic moment at the guillotine (“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done”), the novel is also a powerful study of crowd psychology and the dark emotions aroused by the Revolution, illuminated by Dickens’s lively comedy. With an Introduction by Simon Schama |
Contents
Preface | 3 |
The Period | 7 |
The Mail BOOK THE FIRST | 10 |
Recalled to Life | 14 |
The Night Shadows | 15 |
The Preparation | 20 |
The Wineshop | 31 |
The Shoemaker | 42 |
The Fellow of No Delicacy | 152 |
The Honest Tradesman | 156 |
Knitting | 167 |
Still Knitting | 178 |
One Night | 189 |
Nine Days | 194 |
An Opinion | 200 |
A Plea | 208 |
BOOK | 55 |
Five Years Later | 57 |
SECOND | 60 |
A Sight | 63 |
A Disappointment 4 Congratulatory 5 The Jackal ix 3 IS 20 31 72 37 IO 42 57 63 | 70 |
Hundreds of People 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 236 | 95 |
Monseigneur in Town | 108 |
Monseigneur in the Country | 116 |
The Gorgons Head | 122 |
Two Promises | 133 |
A Companion Picture | 141 |
The Fellow of Delicacy | 145 |
Echoing Footsteps | 212 |
The Sea Still Rises | 223 |
Fire Rises | 229 |
Drawn to the Loadstone Rock | 236 |
BOOK THE THIRD The Track of a Storm | 249 |
In Secret | 251 |
The Grindstone | 262 |
The Shadow | 269 |
Fiftytwo | 350 |
The Knitting Done | 362 |
The Footsteps Die Out for Ever | 374 |
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Common terms and phrases
Alexandre Manette answered asked Barsad breast brother Solomon carriage Charles Darnay château child coach Conciergerie corner court-yard cried Cruncher dark daughter dead dear Defarge's Doctor Manette door echoes Evrémonde eyes face father fire fountain France Gabelle gentleman gone hair hand head heart honour hope horses hour husband Jacques Three Jarvis Lorry knew knitting light live looked Lorry's Lucie Lucie Manette Madame Defarge manner mender of roads mind Miss Manette Miss Pross Monseigneur Monsieur Defarge Monsieur the Marquis never night Old Bailey Paris passed passenger poor prisoner returned Saint Antoine seen shadow shoes Soho stone stood stopped streets Stryver Sydney Carton tell Tellson's Temple Bar things took touch turned village voice walked whisper wife window wine wine-shop woman word Young Jerry young lady