&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RLes Miserables&&L/I&&R, by &&LB&&RVictor Hugo&&L/B&&R, is part of the &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R&&LI&&R &&L/I&&Rseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R: &&LDIV&&R

• New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars
• Biographies of the authors
• Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
• Footnotes and endnotes
• Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
• Comments by other famous authors
• Study questions to challenge the readers viewpoints and expectations
• Bibliographies for further reading
• Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate

All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics &&L/I&&Rpulls together a constellation of influences--biographical, historical, and literary--to enrich each readers understanding of these enduring works.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&ROne of the most widely read novels of all time, &&LI&&RLes Misérables &&L/I&&Rwas the crowning literary achievement of &&LB&&RVictor Hugo&&L/B&&R's stunning career. Though he was considered the greatest French writer of his day, Hugo was forced to flee the country because of his opposition to Napoleon III. While in exile he completed&&LI&&R Les Misérables&&L/I&&R, an enormous melodrama set against the background of political upheaval in France following the rule of Napoleon I. &&LP&&RThis newly abridged edition of &&LI&&RLes Misérables&&L/I&&R tells the story of the peasant Jean Valjean--unjustly imprisoned, baffled by destiny, and hounded by his nemesis, the magnificently realized, ambiguously malevolent police detective Javert. As Valjean struggles to redeem his past, we are thrust into the teeming underworld of Paris with all its poverty, ignorance, and suffering. Just as cruel tyranny threatens to extinguish the last vestiges of hope, rebellion sweeps over the land like wildfire, igniting a vast struggle for the democratic ideal in France. &&LP&&RA monumental classic dedicated to the oppressed, the underdog, the laborer, the rebel, the orphan, and the misunderstood, &&LI&&RLes Misérables&&L/I&&R is a rich, emotional novel that captures nothing less than the entirety of life in nineteenth-century France.&&L/P&&R&&LP&&R&&LB&&RLaurence M. Porter&&L/B&&R has published twelve books, including &&LI&&RVictor Hugo &&L/I&&R(1999), and a hundred articles and chapters. He was a National Endowment for the Humanties Senior Fellow in 1998. He teaches French at Michigan State University, where he won the Distinguished Faculty Award in 1995.&&L/P&&R&&L/DIV&&R