Les Miserables

About This Book

Published in 1862, Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (1802–1885) is one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century and a monumental work of social conscience. Set in early nineteenth-century France, the novel follows the former convict Jean Valjean as he seeks redemption after nineteen years of hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread, pursued relentlessly by the police inspector Javert. Around Valjean's story, Hugo weaves an epic portrait of French society — the poverty of Paris, the Battle of Waterloo, the student uprising of 1832, and the lives of characters including the doomed Fantine, her daughter Cosette, and the idealistic revolutionary Marius. Les Misérables has inspired countless adaptations, most famously the musical by Schönberg and Boublil. The novel is in the public domain.

Excerpt

In 1815, M. Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel was Bishop of D——. He was an old man of about seventy-five years of age; he had occupied the see of D—— since 1806.— Opening of Les Miserables

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