When I think of classic literature one of the first books that comes to mind is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I read this book as a teenager and credit it as one of the books that piqued my interest in the French Revolution. Now many years later I returned to this book to read it again to see if it was still as good as I remembered it being.
Dickens begins the book with one of the most recognizable lines in literature “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The story is set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, although it begins much earlier in 1775 when we are introduced to Mr. Jarvis Lorry an employee of Tellson’s Bank a self described “man of business.”
Mr. Lorry meets with Miss Manette to tell her that her father whom she has never met, because she was told he had died, is alive and has been released from a wrongful imprisonment in France. Mr. Lorry accompanies Miss Manette to France to reunite her with her father and bring them both back to England.
Dickens does a good job of weaving English and French characters throughout the novel. There is a good cast of characters that make the book enjoyable. He does a great job of illustrating the actions of those who are gripped by the depths of love and hate.
Overall Dickens writes a compelling story that had my attention until the end. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.
William Wilberforce has been called an agitator for his commitment to ending the slave trade. One of his well known speeches on the subject was given on May 12, 1789.
Cardinal Richelieu has been hailed as a great statesman and as a subversive authoritarian. Depending on who you talk to he was a man needed to strengthen the monarchy in France, or he was a tyrant seeking personal power. Next week I will have a book review that may shed more light on Cardinal Richelieu.
When Lenin was working on his major writing projects he would often pace across the room formulating the ideas that he would write down by saying them out loud. Once he had the idea for what he wanted to write he would often repeat the idea to Nadezhda Krupskaya, who would provide feedback. Once this process was complete he would then write the ideas down.
Here is an AI rendering of what that might have looked like when he was drafting What is to be Done.
This month this community will focus on political subversion. What is subversion? When is it justified? What is the interplay between subversion and agitation? These are some of the topics to be discussed this month.
“You get used to the despot’s shortcomings, when they are not great vices, and the change of an autocratic ruler leads to involuntary fear.”
Sergei Trubetskoi
