Exploring the enduring popularity of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, this collection offers analysis of both the novel itself and its adaptations. In spite of a mixed response from critics, Les Misérables instantly became a global bestseller. Since its successful publication over 150 years ago, it has traveled across different countries, cultures, and media, giving rise to more than 60 international film and television variations, numerous radio dramatizations, animated versions, comics, and stage plays. Most famously, it has inspired the world's longest running musical, which itself has generated a wealth of fan-made and online content. Whatever its form, Hugo’s tale of social injustice and personal redemption continues to permeate the popular imagination. This volume draws together essays from across a variety of fields, combining readings of Les Misérables with reflections on some of its multimedia afterlives, including musical theater and film from the silent period to today's digital platforms. The contributors offer new insights into the development and reception of Hugo's celebrated classic, deepening our understanding of the novel as a work that unites social commentary with artistic vision and raising important questions about the cultural practice of adaptation.

Exploring the enduring popularity of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, this collection combines readings of the best-selling novel with reflections on how it has permeated the popular imagination through a selection of its multimedia adaptations including musical theater and film from the silent period to today's digital platforms. The essays deepen our understanding of Les Misérables as a work that blends social commentary with artistic vision and raise important questions about the cultural practice of adaptation.

After Fantine’s death, her daughter Cosette remains at the inn where she endures frequent abuse from the owners before the unexpected arrival of Jean Valjean. The duo unites and work to create a better life for themselves away from the city. Following the events of Les Misérables Volume One: Fantine, Jean Valjean is once again on the wrong side of the law. After being sentenced to hard labor and eventually the death penalty, he barely escapes with his life. He travels to an inn where he encounters Cosette, the orphaned daughter of Fantine. He notices her abusive living conditions and attempts to remove her from the innkeepers care. Together, Jean and Cosette break away from the clutches of the owners as well as the cruel Inspector Javert. Les Misérables Volume Two: Cosette is the continuation of the tumultuous story of Jean Valjean. This is one part of a captivating tale that’s been adapted multiple times for stage, television and film. The most notable being the 2012 Oscar-winning production from director, Tom Hooper. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Les Misérables Volume Two: Cosette is both modern and readable.

Book lovers of all ages owe it to themselves to conquer this masterwork of nineteenth-century fiction from Victor Hugo, also author of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. One hundred and fifty years after the original publication of Les Miserables, the heart-rending story of Jean Valjean, Fantine, Cosette and dozens of others of France's downtrodden and dispossessed continues to capture the imaginations of audiences around the world.

The greatest work of one of France's greatest writers, Victor Hugo's Les Misérables has captivated readers for a century and a half with its memorable characters, its indictment of injustice, its concern for those suffering in misery, and its unapologetic embrace of revolutionary ideals. The novel's length, multiple narratives, and encyclopedic digressiveness make it a pleasure to read but a challenge to teach, and this volume is designed to address the needs of instructors in a variety of courses that include the novel in excerpts or as a whole. Part 1 of the volume, "Materials," provides guidance on editions in French and in English translation, biographies, criticism, and maps. Part 2, "Approaches," contains essays that discuss the novel's conceptions of misère, sexuality, and the politics of the time and that demonstrate techniques for teaching context including the book's literary market, its adaptations, its place in popular culture, and its relation to other novels of its time.