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David Bellos explores why Les Miserables is 'France's greatest gift'. He reveals its inspirations and its resonance now, while describing Victor Hugo's life as he penned his epic.

David Bellos explores why Les Miserables is "France's greatest gift". He reveals its inspirations and its resonance now, while describing Victor Hugo's life as he penned his epic.

There has never been a book like it. War and Peace, Great Expectations, Crime and Punishment were all published in the same decade, yet only Les Mis茅rables can stand as the novel of the nineteenth century. How did Victor Hugo's epic work come to be the most widely read and frequently adapted story of all time? And why is its message just as important for our century as it was for his own?

Author David Bellos tells the compelling story of The Novel of the Century.

Reader: Daniel Weyman
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for 大象传媒 Radio 4.

15 minutes

Last on

Tue 24 Jan 2017 00:30

Credits

Role Contributor
Reader Daniel Weyman
Writer David Bellos
Abridger Eileen Horne
Producer Clive Brill

Broadcasts

  • Mon 23 Jan 2017 09:45
  • Tue 24 Jan 2017 00:30

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