Wordsworthian errancies

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Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel published in 1859 by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris, and his release to live in London with his daughter Lucie whom he had never met. The story is set against the conditions that led up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. In the Introduction to the Encyclopedia of Adventure Fiction, critic Don D'Ammassa argues that it is an adventure novel because the protagonists are in constant danger of being imprisoned or killed. As Dickens's best-known work of historical fiction, A Tale of Two Cities is said to be one of the best-selling novels of all time. In 2003, the novel was ranked 63rd on the BBC's The Big Read poll. The novel has been adapted for film, television, radio, and the stage, and has continued to influence popular culture.

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Catherine J. Golden

"Until Queen Victoria instituted the Postal Reform Act of 1839, mail was a luxury affordable only by the rich. Golden demonstrates how cheap postage--which was quickly adopted in other countries--led to a postal "network" that can be viewed as a forerunner of computer-mediated communications. Indeed, the revolution in letter writing of the nineteenth century led to blackmail, frauds, unsolicited mass mailings, and junk mail--problems that remain with us today."--Publisher description.

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Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie Dobbs must unravel a case of wartime love and death—an investigation that leads her to a long-hidden affair between a young cartographer and a mysterious nurse. August 1914. Michael Clifton is mapping the land he has just purchased in California's beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, certain that oil lies beneath its surface. But as the young cartographer prepares to return home to Boston, war is declared in Europe. Michael—the youngest son of an expatriate Englishman—puts duty first and sails for his father's native country to serve in the British army. Three years later, he is listed among those missing in action. April 1932. London psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs is retained by Michael's parents, who have recently learned that their son's remains have been unearthed in France. They want Maisie to find the unnamed nurse whose love letters were among Michael's belongings—a quest that takes Maisie back to her own bittersweet wartime love. Her inquiries, and the stunning discovery that Michael Clifton was murdered in his trench, unleash a web of intrigue and violence that threatens to engulf the soldier's family and even Maisie herself. Over the course of her investigation, Maisie must cope with the approaching loss of her mentor, and her growing awareness that she is once again falling in love.

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Robert Phillip Kolker, Peter Beicken

The Films of Wim Wenders traces the development of one of the most well known directors of the New German Cinema, which flourished in the seventies and early eighties. Examining Wenders career from his early film-school productions, through his mature works of the seventies, this book also analyzes his more recent films, as well as the themes and preoccupations that unite his oeuvre. As the authors note, Wenders' works have been profoundly influenced by American films, especially the "road movie" genre. They often feature characters who are always on the move in an attempt to capture a glimpse of their identity and place in the world. They also represent a generation of postwar Germans seeking to redeem themselves and the history of their country by turning to American popular culture, particularly its music and movies. In such films as The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick, Alice in the Cities, Kings of the Road, and The American Friend, Wenders offers an articulate cinematic vision of the emotional landscape of postwar Germany. In his most recent films, such as Paris, Texas, Wings of Desire, and Until the End of the World, Wenders continues his quest for certainty for a safe domestic and romantic haven, in a style that transforms modernism into post-modern pastiche and in which such elements as melodrama, fantasy and desire are fused. Providing close analyses of Wenders' most important works, The Films of Wim Wenders serves as a useful introduction to a serious filmmaker for whom cinema represents nothing less than the redemption of the imagination and reclamation of history.