William Makepeace Thackeray

When Fairy Blackstick created a magical rose and ring, she did not anticipate their existence to be so troublesome. With the power to warp perception, the rose and the ring each make their bearer seem beautiful and irresistibly charming. However, as they are passed down, the magic of the items had been forgotten, leaving their new owners clueless of this ability. The ring resides in the Paflagonia kingdom. Giglio, the King's nephew, is the rightful...

Originally published in two volumes in 1858-59, this historical novel is a sequel to Henry Esmond and a prequel of sorts to Pendennis. It follows Esmond's twin grandsons, George and Henry Warrington, as they try, in different ways, to crawl out from beneath the thumb of their mother. They may succeed-but they may also be seriously deceived.

A governess must hide her scandalous past as an actress in 1860's Lovel, which Thackeray based on his 1854 play The Wolves and the Lamb. "The most overtly theatrical work we have from one of the 19th century's most theatrical writers."-Anne Layman Horn, Victorian Literature and Culture.

In 1851 the English novelist and satirist William Makepeace Thackeray delivered a series of lectures in London on the great English humorists of the previous century (including Swift, Congreve, Pope, Hogarth, and Fielding), which he repeated over the next two years while touring the United States. The lectures were received with great acclaim and published in book form in 1853.

A continent-spanning adventure featuring one of literature's greatest rogues Redmond Barry has almost all the qualities of a gentleman: he speaks well, has learned courtly etiquette, and can hold his own with a sword in hand. But passion is his downfall-passion for life, for excitement, and unfortunately, for his cousin Nora. When he almost kills Nora's suitor in a duel, Barry flees to Dublin, and the adventure of his life begins.   A consummate...

First published serially from 1847 to 1848, "Vanity Fair" is William Makepeace Thackeray's most famous work in which the author reflects his interest in deconstructing the notions of literary heroism of his era. It is the story of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley, who have just completed their studies at Miss Pinkerton's Academy for Young Ladies and are beginning to embark upon the world. The simple-minded nature of Amelia, who comes from a wealthy family,...

Thackeray's 1852 historical novel recounts the story of the early life of Henry Esmond, a colonel in the service of Queen Anne. Set against the backdrop of English life and the events surrounding the English Restoration-the novel features characters both factual and imagined. Using memoir, Henry tells his tale as the illegitimate son of George, a ranking member of English nobility.

Thackeray originated the modern meaning of the word "snob" in a series of essays for Punch magazine, the British humor periodical. Those essays are collected in this volume. With the organizational drive of a naturalist, Thackeray classifies the varied manifestations of snobbery in society-many of which remain all too common today.

Thackeray's unfinished last novel (1864) promised to be one of the great novelist's best. In this sprawling 18th-century romance, Denis strives to follow his uncle's illustrious career in the British navy. But his grandfather, head of a band of smugglers, has other plans… soon embroiling Denis in a highway robbery.

The popular novelist and humorist gave a series of lectures on the Hanoverian monarchs. The Four Georges (1859) collects his talks on the first four of these monarchs, which were heard on his tours of the United States in 1852-53 and 1855-56.