Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) As a best-selling novelist, Charles Dickens was a celebrity of Victorian England. Worldly success was important to him because of his impoverished childhood: his family lived in a debtor's prison, and Charles was forced to work in a factory and educate himself. In his late teens he worked as a law clerk, a reporter, and then a journalist, writing colorful sketches of London life under the pen name "Boz." His first book, The Pickwick Papers, was a best-seller. From then on, Dickens worked fanatically, turning out thick novels, editing magazines, and giving public readings, which won him a reputation as a liberal reformer. A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens' second historical novel, appeared as a magazine serial in 1859. Dickens followed it with two of his greatest works, Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend. But he was soon overcome by depression, failing health, and compulsive overwork. One morning at his country house in Kent, he died of a heart attack--while seated at his writing desk.Dickens, Charles is the author of 'Tale of Two Cities', published 2004 under ISBN 9781593080556 and ISBN 1593080557.