Publisher's Synopsis
The Tale of Two Cities written by Sir Charles Dickens is a book of the 18th Century, encompassing the French Revolution. It was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France and its colonies beginning in 1789. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, catalyzed violent periods of political turmoil, and finally culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon. It was a period of violence and bloodshed, first by the Aristocrats of France and later by the "Patriots" after the Revolution started. It is difficult to judge who was more violent. "Guillotine" is a machine built by the patriots to behead all the aristocrats, intended and most suitable for mass killings. It was the execution device of the French from 1790 onwards. The brutality of this machine is matched by the brutality of Madame Defarge, who collected by knitting all the names, right from 1770, of erring aristocrats for future killing.
