Charles Dickens started All The Year Round after a legal dispute with the publisher of his Household Words in 1859. It was in this weekly magazine that he first published A Tale of Two Cities. A week before he died in 1870, Dickens passed the editorship to his son, Charles Jr, and he would continue in this role for at least 20 years. This compilation was the first full year’s set after its founder died, covering Dec 1870 to May 1871.