How many pages is A Tale of Two Cities?

About 476 pages, though editions of a book this old vary a great deal — which is why its reading time comes from the complete text instead: 136,529 words, about 9 hrs of reading at an average pace.

Is A Tale of Two Cities worth reading?

We score it 5.0 out of 10 for the time it takes — worth it for some readers. Readers on Hardcover rate it 3.64 out of 5 from 970 ratings, which counts for 5.2; at about 9 hrs at an average pace it gives back 0.2 for its length.

How long is the A Tale of Two Cities audiobook?

About 15 hrs, estimated from the 137,000 words at a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute. Real editions vary by narrator, usually by well under an hour.

Find a copy Listen on Audible · ≈15 hrs

A Tale of Two Cities

Name: A Tale of Two Cities
Author: Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

9 hrsto read

5.0worth it

At your speed≈ 9 hrs

Pages476

Audiobook≈ 15 hrs

Times shown for 250 words a minute (average)

The complete text runs to 136,529 words, counted word for word. At an average 250 words a minute that is 9 hrs — a weekend's reading.

Readers on Hardcover rate it 3.64 out of 5, from 970 ratings.

Worth-it score 5.0/10 — Worth it for some readers. Readers 5.2 (Hardcover's 3.64★ from 970 ratings) − length 0.2 = 5.0. How the score works →

How long does it take to read A Tale of Two Cities?

The complete text of A Tale of Two Cities runs to 136,529 words — about 476 pages in the edition we list. How long that takes depends on how fast you read:

Estimated reading time for A Tale of Two Cities at three reading speeds.
Your pace	Words per minute	Time to finish
Slow	175	13 hrs
Average	250	9 hrs
Fast	400	5½ hrs

Counted word for word from the complete public-domain text on Project Gutenberg, so these times don't depend on any one edition's page count. Most adults read between 200 and 300 words a minute — set your own pace and every time on the site adjusts. Prefer to listen? At a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute the audiobook runs about 15 hrs — an estimate from the word count, since narrators vary.

Common questions

How long does it take to read A Tale of Two Cities?: About 9 hrs at an average reading speed of 250 words per minute. The complete text of A Tale of Two Cities runs to 136,529 words — so at a slower 175 wpm it is nearer 13 hrs, and at 400 wpm closer to 5½ hrs.
How many pages is A Tale of Two Cities?: About 476 pages, though editions of a book this old vary a great deal — which is why its reading time comes from the complete text instead: 136,529 words, about 9 hrs of reading at an average pace.
Is A Tale of Two Cities worth reading?: We score it 5.0 out of 10 for the time it takes — worth it for some readers. Readers on Hardcover rate it 3.64 out of 5 from 970 ratings, which counts for 5.2; at about 9 hrs at an average pace it gives back 0.2 for its length.
How long is the A Tale of Two Cities audiobook?: About 15 hrs, estimated from the 137,000 words at a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute. Real editions vary by narrator, usually by well under an hour.

From the publisher

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille the aging Dr. Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There, two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette.…

From the tranquil lanes of London, they are all drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror and soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.

BritishChildren's fictionCriticism and interpretationEnglish fictionEnglish literatureExecutions and executionersFathers and daughtersFiction