Facts about A Tale of Two Cities
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Published in 1859, A Tale of Two Cities is among the best-selling novels in history, with estimated sales exceeding 200 million copies worldwide.
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Lucie Manette serves as the emotional center of the novel, with her name appearing in the title's symbolic reference to the two cities of London and Paris through themes of resurrection and love.
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Doctor Alexandre Manette spends 18 years imprisoned in the Bastille before his rescue sets the novel's central plot in motion.
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Sydney Carton's final words, 'It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done,' rank among the most famous closing lines in Victorian literature.
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Dickens set approximately half of A Tale of Two Cities during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror between 1793 and 1794.
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Charles Dickens serialized A Tale of Two Cities in 32 weekly installments across 1859 in his magazine All the Year Round.