Written for serial publication in 1859, Charles Dickens' ""A Tale of Two Cities"" is a historical novel that takes place in England and France in the years leading up to the French Revolution. It is one of Dickens' most famous and widely taught novels. Its first line, which begins, ""It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,"" is one of the most recognizable openers in all of literature. Newly updated, this ""Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations"" title offers essays that provide exceptional scholarly analysis worthy of the novel's literary stature.