Les Misrables Author:Victor Hugo Abridged — A Great Humanitarian Novel — Les Miserabl?s, published simultaneously in nine languages in 1862, is a vast, magnificent tapestry set against the background of political upheaval in France during the postNapoleonic era. A cast of hundreds, les mis?rables, the hapless victims of French society, is woven into the story of an exconvict, Jea... more »n Valjean, and his valiant struggle to redeem his past. A potent social document of poverty, ignorance, and brutality of man, Les Mis?rables is also a rousing adventure story, famous for such unrivaled scenes as the spinetingling chase through Paris sewers and the brilliant depiction of the Battle of Waterloo.
Victor Hugo reached the peak of his powers in this farreaching novel of nineteenthcentury France. Here are combined the dramatic skills of Hugo the playwright, the rich imagination of Hugo the poet, and the compassion of Hugo the man.« less