Here’s the epic story that spawned Hollywood films and Broadway musicals—in a condensed and updated version perfect for the twenty-first century reader seeking its redemptive message. Born of the unrest that pervaded France after the failure of its eighteenth-century revolution, Les Misérables follows the journey of Jean Valjean from depravity and corruption to grace and redemption. The eclectic cast of characters accompanying Valjean causes us to empathize with the condition of the human spirit—from Fantine, the desperate single mother, to the cold justice of Javert, to the passion of Cosette, to the revolutionary spirit in Marius. This retelling of Hugo’s epic 1862 novel retains the richness that is Les Mis, in approximately one-fifth of the original wording.