Who is the author of 'A Tale of Two Cities'?

"A Tale of Two Cities" is a historical novel by the English writer Charles Dickens, published in 1859. It is one of the best-selling novels of all time.

About the novel:

• The "two cities" are London and Paris, and the story is set before and during the French Revolution (1789-1799).
• It begins with the famous lines: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Main characters include Doctor Manette, who was unjustly imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 years; his daughter Lucie; Charles Darnay, a French aristocrat who rejects his cruel family; and Sydney Carton, a clever but careless English lawyer.

Madame Defarge, who knits the names of people marked for death, is one of the most famous villains in literature.

At the end, Sydney Carton sacrifices his life on the guillotine to save Darnay, saying: "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done..."

The novel shows the suffering of the poor under the French aristocracy and the violence of the revolutionary Reign of Terror.

About Charles Dickens (1812-1870):

• He was born in Portsmouth, England.
• As a child, he had to work in a blacking (shoe polish) factory when his father was imprisoned for debt, an experience reflected in his novels.
• He is famous for showing the lives of the poor and the problems of Victorian society.

His other major works include:

• "The Pickwick Papers" (1836-37), his first novel.
• "Oliver Twist" (1837-39), about an orphan boy in London.
• "A Christmas Carol" (1843), featuring Ebenezer Scrooge.
• "David Copperfield" (1850), his most autobiographical novel.
• "Bleak House", "Hard Times" and "Great Expectations" (1861).

Other famous novels about revolution and history:

• Victor Hugo: "Les Misérables" (1862), set in post-revolutionary France.
• Leo Tolstoy: "War and Peace" (1869), about Russia during the Napoleonic wars.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Victor Hugo wrote "Les Misérables" and "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame".
• ✗Leo Tolstoy wrote "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina".
• ✗Thomas Hardy wrote "Tess of the d'Urbervilles".