A Tale of Two Cities Resources

Starring Ronald Colman and Elizabeth Allan. Oh, and it’s in black and white.

This one’s a pretty heavily adapted version…and a made-for-TV movie.

Starring some folks from the '50s. And some very, very nice '50s hairdos.

Starring Peter Cushing (as Doctor Manette) and Chris Sarandon (who plays both Carton and Darnay, no less).

A TV version from the U.K. That’s all we can tell you, folks. Check it out for yourselves.

If you’re a Lost fanatic, then this one’s for you. Episode one of season three riffs on Charles Dickens.

Listen to it in the car! Here’s a free audio version.

Or you can purchase and download the Audiobook from Random House Audio.

You wanted a photo? Well, this is even better…

We know, we know: you’re dying to know what the guillotine looked like. Absolutely dying. No pun intended, of course. Well, we here at Shmoop are happy to help. Here’s an image of the nasty machine itself.

If the characters look like cherubs, does that make Dickens God? We think that’s the general idea in this sketch.

Or, well, the author’s home. For some reason, Victorians were really excited about pictures of Dickens' writing desk. We can’t figure it out.

Who wouldn’t trust this mug?

Find the entire book online here.

Dickens cites Carlyle’s account of the French Revolution as one of the most important texts he read when he wrote his novel. Heck, just about everyone in Victorian England cites Carlyle’s text as one of the most important works of the time. We wouldn’t want you to miss out, so here’s the online version. It’s also a pretty good read.

This great website from Stanford University gives you a chance to check out A Tale of Two Cities in its original form—serialized and illustrated.

All Dickens, all the time. We’re not even kidding.

Are you a Dickens nut? Do you want to be? Here are all the tools you need…

Catch up on the latest trailers, meet up with other fans...you get the idea.

Here’s an entire history of how that oh-so-famous machine of mass terror came to be.

Just like today, magazines back in Dickens' day depended not only revenue generated from subscribing readers who liked Dickens, but also from companies who advertised their products in the magazine. As a result, Dickens' stories were part of a total media package. Check out this link to see some of the crazy ads that appeared alongside his stories.

Check out the London area in 1742.

 A map of the sea coast of England and Wales.