A Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and Dickens earns that famous opening. A Tale of Two Cities moves between London and Paris as the French Revolution gathers and breaks: Doctor Manette, freed after eighteen years in the Bastille, is 'recalled to life' by the daughter he has never known; the exiled French aristocrat Charles Darnay tries to escape his family's crimes; and the dissolute English lawyer Sydney Carton, who loves Lucie Manette without hope, drifts toward the sacrifice that will redeem him. Around them, Madame Defarge sits knitting the names of the condemned into her register, waiting.

This is Dickens at his most tightly plotted, no sprawling subplots, just a story that accelerates like a tumbril toward the guillotine, ending with one of the most famous closing lines in literature. The set pieces (the storming of the Bastille, the mob sharpening its weapons at the grindstone, the final ride through the Paris gates) are made for narration. If you only ever listen to one Dickens, the case for this one is strong.

At roughly 134,500 words, A Tale of Two Cities runs about 15 hours at 1x narration speed. That figure is an estimate based on a typical narration pace. The exact length depends on the voice and the playback speed you choose.

A Tale of Two Cities is in the public domain, so the complete text is free on Project Gutenberg and LoudReader has the entire Project Gutenberg catalog built in. To listen:

1. Download LoudReader for Mac or iPhone (free, no account).
2. Search for “A Tale of Two Cities” in the built-in catalog and add it to your library.
3. Press play. A natural offline voice reads the book while each word highlights on screen, and your place is saved between sessions.

LoudReader reads with natural offline voices, so the whole book works on a plane or underground. It is fully on-device and private, your library never leaves your device. Listening is unlimited on the free tier.