A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Dickens greatest historical novel, traces the private lives of a group of people caught up in the cataclysm of the French Revolution and the Terror. Dickens based his historical detail on Carlyles great work The French Revolution. The best story I have written was Dickens own verdict on A Tale of Two Cities, and the reader is unlikely to disagree with this judgement of a story which combines historical fact with the authors unsurpassed genius for poignant tales of human suffering, self-sacrifice, and redemption.