A Tale of Two Cities A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With wel, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature. The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the coresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflatering social paralels with life in London during the same time period. It folows the lives of several protagonists through these events. The most notable are Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Darnay is a former French aristocrat who fals victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Carton is a disipated English barister who endeavors to redem his il-spent life out of his unrequited love for Darnay's wife.