Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, one of the most popular English-language novels, became a bestseller long before the term itself was coined. More than two hundred million copies have been printed in the original language alone. It is a story of frenzied passions and thrilling adventures during the 'age of change' that the French Revolution resonated with in the two great cities of London and Paris. A Bastille cell and the guillotine were as real as fireside chats and lace parasols, and love and stubborn hatred, touching devotion, self-sacrifice, and vile betrayal formed the diverse facets of Dickens's characters.