`A Tale of Two Cities` (1859), Dickens` greatest historical novel, traces the private lives of a group of people caught up in the cataclysm of the French Revolution and the Terror. Dickens based his historical detail on Carlyle`s great work - `The FrenchRevolution` - and also on his own observations and investigations during numerous visits to Paris.
`The best story I have written` was Dickens` own verdict on `A Tale of Two Cities`, and the reader is unlikely to disagree with this judgement of a story which combines historical fact with the author`s unsurpassed genius for poignant tales of human suffering, self-sacrifice, and redemption.