No one is better equipped in the struggle for wealth and worldly success than the alluring and ruthless Becky Sharp, who defies her impoverished background to clamber up the class ladder. Her sentimental companion Amelia, however, longs only for caddish soldier George. As the two heroines make their way through the tawdry glamour of Regency society, battles - military and domestic - are fought, fortunes made and lost. The one steadfast and honourable figure in this corrupt world is Dobbin ...

“Very likely Miss Binny was right to a great extent. It is the pretty face which creates sympathy in the hearts of men, those wicked rogues. A woman may possess the wisdom and chastity of Minerva, and we give no heed to her, if she has a plain face.”Blonde, beautiful, and penniless Becky Sharpe will do whatever it takes to secure her position in life. Staying in London with naive but kind-hearted Amelia Sedley, the conniving Becky fails to entice Amelia’s wealthy brother and instea...

On a broad and colourful canvas, extending from urban and rural England to Waterloo and the continental haunts of exiles, Thackeray gives us one of the greatest social-satirical novels in the language-one of the most entertaining and profound, and, in the person of Becky Sharp, we have one of literature's most resourceful, attractive, and amoral characters. Essentially a commentary on hypocrisy and those ethical principles to which society pays lip-service, Vanity Fair (1847-8) invites us to ...

Vanity Fair, with its rich cast of characters, takes place on the snakes-and-ladders board of life. Amelia Sedley, daughter of a wealthy merchant, has a loving mother to supervise her courtship. Becky Sharp, an orphan, has to use her wit, charm, and resourcefulness to escape from her destiny as a governess. This she does ruthlessly, musing: ‘I think I could become a good woman, if I had £5,000 a year.’ Thackeray’s story is set at the time of the battle of Waterloo, in which the Sedley fort...

Published in book form in 1848, "Vanity Fair" is a novel of early 19th-century English society by William Makepeace Thackeray and it is considered by many his masterwork. Thackeray’s previous writings had been published either unsigned or under pseudonyms, but "Vanity Fair" was the first work he published under his own name."Vanity Fair" follows the lives of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley amid their friends and families during and after the Napoleonic Wars.The novel takes it...

This classic story of two nineteenth-century social climbers is the basis for countless films and TV series, and one of the UK's "Best-Loved Novels."Before the Real Housewives, there were Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. Ruthless and cunning, Becky may have been born in a lower class, but now that she's graduated from school, she's ready to climb up to a better life—and do whatever it takes to get there. Her friend Emmy, however, is the opposite. She may have mastered...

Compiled in one book, the essential collection of books by William Makepeace Thackeray:The Tremendous Adventures of Major GahaganBarry LyndonThe Bedford-Row ConspiracyThe Book of SnobsBurlesquesCatherine: A StoryThe Christmas BooksThe Fatal BootsThe Fitz-Boodle PapersNotes on a Journey from Cornhill to Grand CairoGeorge CruikshankThe History of Henry Esmond, Esq.The History of PendennisThe Hi...

The Library of Alexandria is an independent small business publishing house. We specialize in bringing back to live rare, historical and ancient Books. This includes manuscripts such as: classical fiction, philosophy, science, Religion, folklore, mythology, history, literature, politics and sacred texts, in addition to Secret and esoteric subjects, such as: occult, freemasonry, alchemy, hermetic, shamanism and ancient knowledge. Our Books are available in digital format. We have approximat...

Step into the glittering and deceitful world of early 19th-century English society in this sprawling novel. Following the lives of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley, the two women navigate their way through a society obsessed with wealth, status, and social climbing. Becky, ambitious and resourceful, stops at nothing to ascend the social ladder, while Amelia, gentle and naive, grapples with love and loss amid the tumult of the Napoleonic Wars.William Thackeray's sharp wit and keen obser...

"We have all read a statement—we have all, I say, been favoured by perusing a remark, that when the times and necessities of the world call for a Man, that individual is found. Thus at the French Revolution, when it was requisite to administer a corrective dose to the nation, Robespierre was found; a most foul and nauseous dose indeed, and swallowed eagerly by the patient, greatly to the latter’s ultimate advantage: thus, when it became necessary to kick John Bull out of America, Mr. Washi...

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1847-1848, is one of the most famous satirical novels of the 19th century. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, it offers a vivid portrayal of English society in the early 19th century, particularly focusing on the lives of the ambitious, morally flawed, and self-serving characters who populate the world of the novel. The title Vanity Fair is taken from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, a symbolic reference to the superficiality...

Vanity Fair is an English novel by William Makepeace Thackeray which follows the lives of Becky Sharp and Emmy Sedley amid their friends and families during and after the Napoleonic Wars. It was first published as a 19-volume monthly serial from 1847 to 1848, carrying the subtitle Pen and Pencil Sketches of English Society, reflecting both its satirisation of early 19th-century British society and the many illustrations drawn by Thackeray to accompany the text. It was published as a single...