It was the best of times it was the worst of times A Tale of Two Cities Dickens only historical novel sets personal happiness against the terrors of the French Revolution where the search for social justice sacrifices individual rights. Dr Manette has emerged from eighteen years unjust imprisonment in the Bastille: by an ironic twist of fate his daughter Lucies marriage draws the family into a terrifying web of circumstance which it seems can only end in death by the guillotine...