The 19th century saw the writings of many renowned French authors. Victor Hugo is sometimes seen as "the greatest French writer of all time" for excelling in all literary genres. The preface of his play ''Cromwell'' is considered to be the manifesto of the Romantic movement. ''Les Contemplations'' and ''La Légende des siècles'' are considered "poetic masterpieces", Hugo's verse having been compared to that of Shakespeare, Dante and Homer. His novel ''Les Misérables'' is widely seen as one of the greatest novel ever written and ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' has remained immensely popular.