Victor Hugo

Les MisÉrables

Translated by Charles E. Wilbour

Abridged, edited and with an introduction by Paul Bénichou

Published simultaneously in nine languages in 1862, Les MiséRables is a vast tapestry set against the chaos of post-Napoleonic France. A cast of hundreds is woven into the epic story of the ex-convict Jean Valjean and his valiant struggle to redeem himself. A potent social document of the poverty, ignorance, and brutality of man, Les MiséRables is also a rousing adventure and a passionate parable of love. Here, Victor Hugo displays his skills as a dramatist and poet, and shows his deeply felt compassion for all mankind.

Pocket Books' Enriched Classics present the great works of world literature enhanced for the contemporary reader. This edition of Les MiséRables contains the original introduction by Hugo scholar and Harvard professor Paul Bénichou, as well as his accomplished abridgment.

維剋多·雨果（Victor Hugo，1802-1885），19世紀法國浪漫主義文學的代錶人物。貫穿他一生活動和創作的主導思想是人道主義、反對暴力、以愛製“惡”。其文學創作有詩歌、小說、戲劇、政論、散文隨筆以及文學評論，捲帙浩繁。代錶作有長篇小說《巴黎聖母院》、《海上勞工》、《悲 慘世界》及《九三年》等。