Bastille
Videos
The Bastille was a medieval fortress in Paris, known as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state pris
East view of the Bastille, drawing c. 1790
Historical reconstruction showing the moat below the walls of Paris (left), the Bastille and the Porte Saint-Antoine (right) in 1420
A depiction of the Bastille and neighbouring Paris in 1575, showing the new bastions, the new Porte Saint-Antoine, the Arsenal complex and the open countryside beyond the city defences
The Bastille in 1647, illustrating the bastion, the stone abutment linking to the fortress and the new southern entrance built during the 1550s
A Tale of Two Cities
Videos
A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French
Bastille
…bankrupted, buried, destroyed". In England, Charles Dickens took a similar perspective when he drew on popular histories of the Bastille in writing A Tale of Two Cities, in which Doctor Manette is "buried alive" in the prison for 18 years; many historical figures associated with the Bastille are reinvented as fictional…
Cover of serial Vol. V, 1859
"The Sea Still Rises", an illustration for Book 2, Chapter 22 by "Phiz"
The seamstress and Carton, an illustration for Book 3, Chapter 15 by John McLenan (1859)
Illustration from a serialised edition of the story, showing three tricoteuses knitting, with the Vengeance standing in the centre.