In Les Mis?rables, Victor Hugo takes readers deep into the Parisian underworld, immerses them in a battle between good and evil and carries them to the barricades during the uprising of 1832, with a breathtaking realism that is unsurpassed in modern prose. Within his dramatic story are themes that capture the intellect and the emotions: crime and punishment, the relentless persecution of the peasant Jean Valjean by Inspector Javert, the desperation of the prostitute Fantine, the amorality of the rogue Th?nardier and the universal desire to escape the prisons of our own minds. Les Mis?rables is an extravagant spectacle that dazzles the senses even as it touches the heart.