William Makepeace Thackeray’s Followers (1,363)

William Makepeace Thackeray

Born

in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India

July 18, 1811

Died

December 24, 1863

Genre

Fiction

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William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist, satirist, and journalist, best known for his keen social commentary and his novel Vanity Fair (1847–1848). His works often explored themes of ambition, hypocrisy, and the moral failings of British society, making him one of the most significant literary figures of the Victorian era.
Born in Calcutta, British India, he was sent to England for his education after his father’s death. He attended Charterhouse School, where he developed a distaste for the rigid school system, and later enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge. However, he left without earning a degree, instead traveling in Europe and pursuing artistic ambitions.
After losing much of his inheritance due to bad investments, Thackera William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist, satirist, and journalist, best known for his keen social commentary and his novel Vanity Fair (1847–1848). His works often explored themes of ambition, hypocrisy, and the moral failings of British society, making him one of the most significant literary figures of the Victorian era.
Born in Calcutta, British India, he was sent to England for his education after his father’s death. He attended Charterhouse School, where he developed a distaste for the rigid school system, and later enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge. However, he left without earning a degree, instead traveling in Europe and pursuing artistic ambitions.
After losing much of his inheritance due to bad investments, Thackeray turned to writing for a living. He contributed satirical sketches, essays, and stories to periodicals such as Fraser’s Magazine and Punch, gradually building a reputation for his sharp wit and keen observational skills. His breakthrough came with Vanity Fair, a panoramic satire of English society that introduced the enduring character of Becky Sharp, a resourceful and amoral social climber.
Thackeray’s later novels, including Pendennis (1848–1850), The History of Henry Esmond (1852), and The Newcomes (1853–1855), continued to explore the lives of the English upper and middle classes, often focusing on the contrast between personal virtue and social ambition. His historical novel Henry Esmond was particularly praised for its detailed 18th-century setting and complex characterization.
In addition to his fiction, Thackeray was a noted public speaker and essayist, delivering lectures on the English humorists of the 18th century and on The Four Georges, a critical look at the British monarchy.
Despite his literary success, he lived with personal struggles, including the mental illness of his wife, Isabella, which deeply affected him. He remained devoted to his two daughters and was known for his kindness and generosity among his friends and colleagues.
His works remain widely read, appreciated for their incisive humor, rich characterizations, and unflinching critique of social pretensions.
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Combine Editions
William Makepeace Thackeray’s books

Average rating: 3.8 · 145,734 ratings · 6,381 reviews · 4,557 distinct works • Similar authors

	Vanity Fair 3.81 avg rating — 133,715 ratings — published 1847 — 1993 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Barry Lyndon 3.62 avg rating — 2,918 ratings — published 1844 — 778 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Rose And the Ring 3.75 avg rating — 1,251 ratings — published 1855 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. 3.60 avg rating — 1,128 ratings — published 1852 — 925 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bâlciul deşertăciunilor, vol.1 by William Makepeace Thackeray, Sînziana Mihalache (Translator) 3.88 avg rating — 571 ratings — published 1848 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vanity Fair, Part 2 by William Makepeace Thackeray, Frederick Davidson (Narrator) 3.96 avg rating — 541 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Book of Snobs 3.39 avg rating — 548 ratings — published 1848 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The History of Pendennis: His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy by William Makepeace Thackeray, Donald Hawes (editor), J.I.M. Stewart (Editor) 3.69 avg rating — 402 ratings — published 1850 — 138 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Newcomes 3.67 avg rating — 272 ratings — published 1855 — 169 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Virginians 3.39 avg rating — 115 ratings — published 1859 — 323 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by William Makepeace Thackeray…

Series by William Makepeace Thackeray

Vanity Fair (3 books)
by

William Makepeace Thackeray,

John Carey (Contributor)

3.81 avg rating — 134,821 ratings

Ярмарка Тщеславия (2 books)
by

William Makepeace Thackeray,

Frederick Davidson (Narrator)

3.92 avg rating — 1,110 ratings

Mainehikkaita romaaneja (1 book)
by

William Makepeace Thackeray

3.60 avg rating — 1,128 ratings

The Adventures of Philip (4 books)
by

William Makepeace Thackeray

3.55 avg rating — 29 ratings

They're the rule breakers, the troublemakers, the ones who scoff at societal conventions. While their vicious personalities and...

Polls

August 2017 Revisit the Shelf Reread

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, 1939, 479 pages

45 votes, 13.5%

Persuasion by Jane Austen, 1817, 249 pages

43 votes, 12.9%

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, 1856, 329 pages

38 votes, 11.4%

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, 1943, 496 pages

22 votes, 6.6%

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, 1891, 518 pages

21 votes, 6.3%

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, 1884, 327 pages

19 votes, 5.7%

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, 1859, 672 pages

19 votes, 5.7%

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle, 1902, 256 pages

17 votes, 5.1%

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, 1957, 592 pages

17 votes, 5.1%

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy, 1905, 204 pages

14 votes, 4.2%

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, 1847, 867 pages

14 votes, 4.2%

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë, 1848, 489 pages

14 votes, 4.2%

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, 1605, 1023 pages

14 votes, 4.2%

Paradise Lost by John Milton, 1667, 453 pages

13 votes, 3.9%

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier, 1935, 302 pages

12 votes, 3.6%

Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1864, 136 pages

11 votes, 3.3%

333 total votes

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