Book description
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 with his devotion to Amelia, bringing pathos and depth to
Thackeray's gloriously satirical epic of love and social adventure.
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) was born and educated to be a
gentleman but gambled away much of his fortune while at Cambridge. He
trained as a lawyer before turning to journalism. He was a regular
contributor to periodicals and magazines and Vanity Fair was
serialised in Punch in 1847-8.
John Carey is Professor of English at Oxford University. He has
written on Dickens and Thackeray.
