A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens, 1859

Charles Dickens’s novel of London and Paris before and during the French Revolution, following Doctor Manette, freed after eighteen years in the Bastille, his daughter Lucie, and the two men who love her.

Start reading45 chapters, about 137,000 words

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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair
Book the First: Recalled to Life, Chapter IIn context
- History
- Hope
A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.
Book the First: Recalled to Life, Chapter IIIIn context
- Character
“Detestation of the high is the involuntary homage of the low.”
Book the Second: The Golden Thread, Chapter IXIn context
- Envy
- Power
Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death;⁠—the last, much the easiest to bestow, O Guillotine!
Book the Third: The Track of a Storm, Chapter VIn context
- Liberty
- Life & Death
Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind.
Book the Third: The Track of a Storm, Chapter XVIn context
- History
- Power
I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out.
Book the Third: The Track of a Storm, Chapter XVIn context
- Freedom
- Hope
“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”
Book the Third: The Track of a Storm, Chapter XVIn context
- Life & Death

Book the First: Recalled to Life

Chapter IThe Period
Chapter IIThe Mail
Chapter IIIThe Night Shadows
Chapter IVThe Preparation
Chapter VThe Wine-shop
Chapter VIThe Shoemaker

Book the Second: The Golden Thread

Chapter IFive Years Later
Chapter IIA Sight
Chapter IIIA Disappointment
Chapter IVCongratulatory
Chapter VThe Jackal
Chapter VIHundreds of People
Chapter VIIMonseigneur in Town
Chapter VIIIMonseigneur in the Country
Chapter IXThe Gorgon’s Head
Chapter XTwo Promises
Chapter XIA Companion Picture
Chapter XIIThe Fellow of Delicacy
Chapter XIIIThe Fellow of No Delicacy
Chapter XIVThe Honest Tradesman
Chapter XVKnitting
Chapter XVIStill Knitting
Chapter XVIIOne Night
Chapter XVIIINine Days
Chapter XIXAn Opinion
Chapter XXA Plea
Chapter XXIEchoing Footsteps
Chapter XXIIThe Sea Still Rises
Chapter XXIIIFire Rises
Chapter XXIVDrawn to the Loadstone Rock

Book the Third: The Track of a Storm

Chapter IIn Secret
Chapter IIThe Grindstone
Chapter IIIThe Shadow
Chapter IVCalm in Storm
Chapter VThe Wood-Sawyer
Chapter VITriumph
Chapter VIIA Knock at the Door
Chapter VIIIA Hand at Cards
Chapter IXThe Game Made
Chapter XThe Substance of the Shadow
Chapter XIDusk
Chapter XIIDarkness
Chapter XIIIFifty-two
Chapter XIVThe Knitting Done
Chapter XVThe Footsteps Die Out For Ever

Famous quotes

Contents

Book the First: Recalled to Life

Book the Second: The Golden Thread

Book the Third: The Track of a Storm