A Tale of Two CitiesThis wonderful series is a quick way into a range of exciting stories, from the chilling tale of 'Frankenstein', to the gripping adventure of 'Treasure Island' and the powerful animal story of 'Call of the Wild'. Fast-moving and accessible, each story is a shortened, dramatically illustrated version of the classic novel, which loses none of the strength and flavour of the original. 'A Tale of Two Cities' (1859) centres on the years leading up to the French Revolution and culminates in the Jacobin Reign of Terror. It tells the story of two men, Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton, who look similar but are very different in personality. Darnay is a romantic French aristocrat, while Carton is a cynical English barrister. However, the two are in love with the same woman, Lucie Manette... Oliver TwistDickens' celebrated novel of innocence betrayed and then triumphant. It recreates the London underworld populated by such characters as Fagin, Bill Sikes, Nancy and the Artful Dodger, who are contrasted with the friends and family of the orphaned Oliver.