A tale of two cities book summary

A Tale of Two Cities is also a good "starter Dickens" since it's shorter than most of his other novels, and has more action and suspense. It's not exactly an authoritative historical account of the French Revolution, but probably nobody has captured the emotions and drama of that period better.

A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most widely read novels in history, yet it has a number of qualities at odds with that. It is picaresque and disjointed; it is a 'tale' but a long one; it is historical fiction but avoids a lot of the history and, given its source material, runs several risks of unoriginality.

By having Carton predict a future where his sacrifice will allow those “for which I lay down my life [to be] peaceful, useful, prosperous, and happy” and where France will be restored to peace and order, the novel ends with a sense of optimism rather than crushing defeat.

A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, deals with the major themes of duality, revolution, and resurrection. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times in London and Paris, as economic and political unrest lead to the American and French Revolutions.