• Books
  • Films & Media
  • The Public Historian
  • Blog
  • Texas
  • About
  • Students
  • Our/Stories
  • 15 Minute History

"The past is never dead. It's not even past." William Faulkner

Not Even Past

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859)

By H.W. Brands 

The best historical novel I’ve ever read is Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities. It helps that Dickens is one of my favorite writers, and that the French revolution afforded a wonderfully dramatic context for him to display his story-telling skills.

image

 It also helped Dickens that he had at hand Thomas Carlyle’s non-fictional The French Revolution, which is one of the most stirring works of history ever written. Add Dickens’s unique skills of characterization and a satisfyingly intricate plot and the result is that rare nineteenth century work that even the jaded modern reader can’t put down. ‘Tis a far, far better thing’ than almost any other work of its genre (readers will appreciate that oft-quoted line by the end of the book).

image

 

Photo Credits

artist unknown, bust of Charles Dickens, 1867

J. Gurney & Son, Library of Congress 

 

Posted November 15, 2011 More 1800s, Books, Europe, Fiction, Periods, Regions, Topics

The Public Historian

From There to Here: Matthew Butler

January 29, 2019

More from The Public Historian

Books

Madeleine’s Children: Family, Freedom, Secrets and Lies in France’s Indian Ocean Colonies, by Sue Peabody (2017)

Featured imageFebruary 11, 2019

More Books

Films & Media

Monroe by Lisa B. Thompson (2018)

Featured imageOctober 24, 2018

More from Films & Media

Texas

Letter to the Editor

November 13, 2018

More from Texas

In the Trenches by Pierre Minault

Pierre Minault's First World War diary, In the Trenches, is now complete and available for download. Click here.

Tags

19th century 20th Century African American History american history Asia Asia & Middle East book review Brazil British Empire China Civil War Cold War Colonialism cultural history digital history Early Modern Europe Europe film gender history History of Science immigration India Islam Latin America Latin American History Mexico Not Even Past Public History race religion Russia slavery Texas Texas History Texas History Day Transnational Twentieth Century History U.S. History United States US History USSR Womens History world history World War II
NOT EVEN PAST is produced by
The Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
We are supported by the College of Liberal Arts
And our Readers

Donate
Contact

All content © 2010-present NOT EVEN PAST and the authors, unless otherwise noted

Sign up to receive bi-weekly email updates

To help us prevent spam submissions, please type the text in the image below:

  • Books
  • Films & Media
  • The Public Historian
  • Blog
  • Texas