William Makepeace Thackeray

Barry LyndonBy William Makepeace ThackerayFrom the Works of William Makepeace ThackerayEdited by Walter JerroldRedmond Barry of Bally Barry, born to a genteel but ruined Irish family, fancies himself a gentleman. At the prompting of his mother, he learns what he can of courtly manners and swordplay, but fails at more scholarly subjects like Latin. He is a hot-tempered, passionate lad, and falls madly in love with his cousin, Nora. Sadly, as she is a spinster a few years older than Redmond, she is seeking a prospect with more ready cash to pay family debts. The lad tries to engage in a duel with Nora's suitor, an English officer named John Quin. He is made to think that he has assassinated the man, though his pistol was actually loaded with tow, a dummy load of heavy, knotted, fibres. Quin, struck with the harmless load, fainted in fright. Redmond flees to Dublin, where he quickly falls in with bad company in the way of con artists, and soon loses all his money. Pursued by creditors, he enlists as a common private in a Royal Army infantry regiment headed for service in Germany during the Seven Years' War.

Though William Makepeace Thackeray eventually gained fame for picaresque and satirical novels such as Vanity Fair and The Luck of Barry Lyndon, he was also a prolific travel writer and essayist. This collection presents an array of Thackeray's most beloved travel essays and observations.

Satirical genius William Makepeace Thackeray may be best remembered for novels like Vanity Fair, but he first made his name as a writer as a contributor to magazines like Punch. In these pieces, Thackeray often mercilessly skewered the pretensions of the British upper classes. The collection Book of Snobs brings together some of Thackeray's finest work in this vein, and it's a must-read for fans of witty humor writing.

Based on historical events, this tale from the imagination of beloved English author William Makepeace Thackeray blends his trademark wit and spot-on satire with an engaging mystery. A must-read for fans of closely observed social satire and lovers of Thackeray's other works, such as Vanity Fair and The Rose and the Ring.

Catherine: A Story was the first full-length work of fiction produced by William Makepeace Thackeray. It first appeared in serialized installments in Fraser's Magazine between May 1839 and February 1840, credited to "Ikey Solomons, Esq. Junior." Thackeray's original intention in writing it was to criticize the Newgate school of crime fiction, exemplified by Bulwer-Lytton and Harrison Ainsworth, whose works Thackeray felt glorified criminals. Thackeray even included Dickens in this criticism for his portrayal of the good-hearted streetwalker Nancy and the charming pickpocket, the Artful Dodger, in Oliver Twist.

We, who can recall the consulship of Plancus, and quite respectable, old-fogyfied times, remember amongst other amusements which we had as children the pictures at which we were permitted to look.

Born in Calcutta in 1811, William Makepeace Thackeray's earliest works were sharp satirical barbs written under a variety of pen names. After struggling through a rocky start as an author, Thackeray would go on to write several well-loved novels, including Vanity Fair, The Luck of Barry Lyndon, and Catherine. In Men's Wives, Thackeray turns his keen perception and cutting wit to the subject of romantic-and not-so-romantic-relationships.