music by [extract from cello concerto no. 2 in d, adagio] Joseph Haydn producer Sue Dawson read by Martin Jarvis written-by Charles Dickens Copyright (c) Orbis Publishing Ltd. It was the best of times and the worst of times. In one of the most famous openings of any novel, Dickens masterfully presents the turmoil of the French Revolution, which is the backdrop for a novel of love, patience, hope, and self-sacrifice