A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry, demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries towards the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same period.It follows the lives of several characters through these events.With sales of over 200 million copies, A tale of two Cities is the biggest selling novel in history.