Brought to life here in 48 pages of full colour drawings, Les Misérables - translated variously from French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, The Victims - (1862) is a novel by French author Victor Hugo, and among the best-known novels of the 19th century. It has been described as one of the greatest novels ever written in any language. It follows the lives of several characters over a twenty-year period in the early 19th century, starting in the year of Napoleon's final defeat. The novel principally focuses on the struggles of the main character, ex-convict Jean Valjean, as he seeks to redeem himself from his past mistakes. It also provides social commentary by examining the impact of Valjean's actions: and it examines the nature of good, evil, and the law, in a sweeping story that covers the history of France, the architecture of Paris, politics, moral philosophy, antimonarchism, justice, religion and the types and nature of romantic and familial love. Les Misérables is also known to many through its numerous stage and screen adaptations, of which the most famous is the stage musical of the same name, sometimes abbreviated "Les Mis" or "Les Miz" The story could be considered historical 'faction' because it contains factual, historic events, including the Paris Uprising of 1832.