Sign-In
Cart
A Tale of Two Cities
Paperback
Series: Chiltern Classic
Currently unavailable to order
Please enter your email and a message will be sent to you when this product becomes available on our website.
ISBN13: 9781917940009
Publisher: Chiltern Publishing
Published: Apr 14 2026
Weight: 1.50
Height: 1.40 Width: 5.30 Depth: 7.60
Language: English
A Tale of Two Cities tells the story of Mr. Jarvis Lorry, an official of Tellson's Bank in London who accompanies Lucie Manette to Paris. He has information that her father, Dr. Alexandre Manette, who had disappeared eighteen years ago, is alive. He had been wrongfully imprisoned in the Bastille and left there to die. Lucie is shaken when she learns that her father is still living. On reaching Paris, they go to the house of Monsieur Defarge, a wine-seller. He had been Dr. Manette's servant and has taken care of him after his release from prison. Both Mr. Lorry and Lucie are shocked to see the terrible state Doctor Manette is in. He has aged prematurely, having lost both his memory and his sense. He spends his time cobbling shoes. The revolutionary ardor and hatred against oppression are fanned every time Defarge and his associates look at this wreck of a man, who has been a victim of the aristocracy. Mr. Lorry and Lucie take her father back to London. With love and compassion, Lucie plans to nurse her father back to health and sanity.
Five years later, in 1780, a young Frenchman, named Charles Darnay, is accused of being a traitor and a spy. Lucie and her father are reluctant witnesses for the prosecution, as they had met him while travelling from Calais to Dover. Lucie stresses the good qualities of the accused while imparting her testimony. The evidence against him is overwhelming as the prosecution produces a number of witnesses who swear that he is a spy. The onlookers, too, mentally condemn him and are waiting for the death sentence to be pronounced. However, it is Sydney Carton, an advocate present in the courtroom, who points out the resemblance between the prisoner and himself to the defense lawyer Mr. Stryver. The jury thus realizes that it could be a case of mistaken identity, and Darnay is acquitted.
Years pass, and both Darnay and Carton fall in love with Lucie Manette. Carton is a lawyer who wastes his life in drinking and idling. Lucie has no interest in him; instead, she marries Darnay. He is a French aristocrat who has renounced his inheritance and now lives in London under an assumed name and works as a tutor. His uncle, the Marquis St. Evremonde, is a notorious man renowned for his cruelty and callousness; he has lived the life of a profligate and has no respect for human life. This is emphasized in two incidents that take place while he drives home from a royal reception. He kills a child on the streets and refuses to help a poor widow in need of a tombstone to mark her husband's grave. That very night he is murdered in bed.
The French Revolution breaks out in all its fury with the storming of the Bastille. In London, Darnay has been happily married to Lucie for eleven years, and they have a beautiful daughter. On hearing that Gabelle, his steward in France, has been erroneously arrested, Darnay secretly returns to Paris to save his faithful servant. He is caught and imprisoned. On hearing of her husband's capture, Lucie, her daughter, Dr. Manette, and Mr. Lorry rush to Paris to save him. Dr. Manette, himself a victim of oppression, convinces the people of his son-in-law's innocence, and Darnay is discharged. Madame Defarge, however, seeks personal revenge against the Evremonde family, for the cruel Marquis had molested her sister and killed her brother. Largely because of her, Darnay is re-arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. There is no hope of saving him. Even the lives of Lucie and her daughter are in danger as the hard-core revolutionaries, like the Defarges, would like to eliminate anyone who has a connection with aristocracy.
The story ends dramatically when Sydney Carton decides to save Darnay's life by taking his place. He gains entry into the prison, drugs Darnay, and with the help of Mr. Lorry gets him out of danger. The Darnay family flees back to England while Carton sacrifices his life for Darnay, his look-alike. The sacrifice is made to fulfill a promise to Lucie whom he loves. Carton feels noble about his action and knows that he will live in the hearts of the Darnays forever.
Also from
Dickens, Charles
A Christmas Carol (Collector's Edition) (Illustrated) (Laminated Hardback with Jacket)
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
A Christmas Carol: Ebenezer Scrooge and the Three Christmas Spirits Illustrated by Lisa Aisato with a Foreword by Kathi Appelt
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
A Vintage Christmas: A Giftable Collection of Classic Christmas Stories and Seasonal Poetry
Dickens, Charles
Montgomery, L. M.
Alcott, Louisa May
Paperback
A Christmas Carol: Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (Deluxe Illustrated Leatherbound Edition)
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
The Essential Christmas Classics Collection (Boxed Set): A Christmas Carol; The Nutcracker; Twelve Classics of Christmas
Various
Hoffmann, E. T. a.
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
The Pickwick Papers (Collector's Edition) (Laminated Hardback with Jacket)
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
A Classic Christmas: A Giftable Collection of Classic Christmas Stories and Seasonal Poetry
Alcott, Louisa May
Dickens, Charles
Andersen, Hans Christian
Paperback
A Christmas Carol & Other Stories (Collector's Edition) (Illustrated) (Laminated Hardback with Jacket)
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
Nicholas Nickleby (Large Print, Unabridged): Large Print, Annotated Extended Biography, Unabridged (Large Print Edition)
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
The Essential Christmas Classics Collection (Boxed Set): A Christmas Carol; The Nutcracker; Twelve Classics of Christmas
Various
Hoffmann, E. T. a.
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
The Signal-Man: A Classic Ghost Story of Fate, Premonition, and Tragedy on the Rails
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
A Christmas Carol (Classics Made Easy): Unabridged, with Glossary, Historic Orientation, and Character Guide
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
Children's Holiday Collection Boxed Set (A Christmas Carol, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Nutcracker and the Mouse King) Set of 3 Books - [D
Hoffman, E. T. a.
Dickens, Charles
Baum, L. Frank
Hardcover
The Haunted House: A Collection of Short Stories by Charles Dickens and Others
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
Large Print - A Christmas Carol - Grand Type Collector's Edition - Matte Hardcover with Dust Jacket (Large Print Edition)
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
The Old Curiosity Shop (Collector's Edition) (Laminated Hardback with Jacket)
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
Some Short Christmas Stories: Classic Story Collection! (A Christmas Tree, What Christmas Is as we Grow Older, The Poor Relation's Story, The Child's
Dickens, Charles
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
Martin Chuzzlewit (Golden Monarch Collector's Edition) (Case Laminate Hardcover with Jacket)
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
24 Cuentos de Navidad y de Reyes: Calendario de Adviento literario
Andersen, Hans Christian
Pardo Bazán, Emilia
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
Cuento de Navidad de Charles Dickens: Traducción Moderna y Actualizada al Español
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
Cruikshank's Water Colours
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Dickens, Charles
Maxwell, W. H. (William Hamilton)
Paperback
The Lock and Key Library: Classic Mystery and Detective Stories: Old Time English
Dickens, Charles
Hawthorne, Julian
de Quincey, Thomas
Hardcover
The Haunted House: A Collection of Victorian Ghost Stories - Tales of Mystery and the Macabre (Deluxe Hardbound Edition)
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
Haunted By Dickens: Humorous Asides and Personal Insight into the Themes of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol
Lowry, Tim
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
Children's Holiday Collection Boxed Set (A Christmas Carol, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Nutcracker and the Mouse King) Set of 3 Books [Pap
Baum, L. Frank
Hoffman, E. T. a.
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Collector's Edition) (Laminated Hardback with Jacket)
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
The Lock and Key Library: Classic Mystery and Detective Stories: Old Time English
de Quincey, Thomas
Dickens, Charles
Hawthorne, Julian
Paperback
Some Christmas Stories: Exploring the Spirit of Christmas Through Dickens' Timeless Tales
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
Il Circolo Pickwick - Voliii: Un viaggio comico attraverso le sfumature della società vittoriana.
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
Les Grandes Espérances: Les péripéties de Pip: un voyage de l'innocence à la maturité
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
Vie et aventures de Martin Chuzzlewit: Vie et aventures de Martin Chuzzlewit
Dickens, Charles
Lorain
Hardcover
Best of Children's Classics: Perfect Gift Set for Kids (Set of 5 Books) - A Christmas Carol, The Little Prince, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Wind i
De Saint-Exupery, Antoine
Baum, L. Frank
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
Best of Children's Classics: Perfect Gift Set for Kids (Set of 5 Books) (Deluxe Hardcover Book) - A Christmas Carol, The Little Prince, The Wonderful
Baum, L. Frank
Dickens, Charles
De Saint-Exupery, Antoine
Hardcover
Le Avventure Di Nicholas Nickleby - Voli: Il viaggio di un giovane tra ingiustizie e speranza
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
La Piccola Dorrit - Voli: Il viaggio di una giovane donna tra le ombre della società vittoriana.
Dickens, Charles
Paperback
Also in
Classic Fiction
James Fenimore Cooper: The Leatherstocking Tales Vol. 1 (Loa #26): The Pioneers / The Last of the Mohicans / The Prairie
Cooper, James Fenimore
Hardcover
Four Comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, a Midsummer Night's Dream, the Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night
Shakespeare, William
Paperback
Before Gatsby: The First Twenty-Six Stories
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Bruccoli, Matthew J.
Baughman, Judith
Paperback
The Princess Bride Deluxe Limited Edition: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Paperback
The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Paperback
The Lord of the Rings Illustrated by the Author: Illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Hardcover
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Hardcover
The Pilgrim's Progress: A Readable Modern-Day Version of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (Revised and easy-to-read)
Bunyan, John
Vermilye, Alan
Paperback
Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Stoker, Bram
Shelley, Mary
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Paperback