A magnificent achievement. It reads easily, sometimes racily, and Hugo’s narrative power is never let down … An almost flawless translation, which brings the full flavour of one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century to new readers in the twenty-first ― The Times Literary Supplement

Christine Donougher’s seamless and very modern translation of Les Misérables has an astonishing effect in that it reminds readers that Hugo was going further than any Dickensian lament about social conditions … The Wretched touches the soul ― Herald Scotland

Robert Tombs is Emeritus Professor of French History at Cambridge, and a Fellow of St John’s College. Most of his writing and teaching has been on French and European history and on Franco-British relations, for which he was awarded the Palmes Académiques by the French government. Since his foray into English history, with the publication of The English and Their History in 2014, he has become a frequent commentator on contemporary issues, and is co-editor of the pro-Brexit academic website Briefings for Britain.