The History of Henry Esmond, Esq.

by William Makepeace Thackeray

Orphaned in the England of the later Stuarts, Henry Esmonde is raised by his aristocratic, Jacobite relatives the Castlewoods.

As a young man he falls in love with both Lady Castlewood and Beatrix, her beautiful, headstrong daughter, and is inspired to join the ultimately unsuccessful campaign to reinstate James Stuart to the throne.

Thackeray valued Henry Esmond more than any of his other novels and it displays many of his own memories and emotions.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literature, Victorian, British Literature, 19th Century

652 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1852

About the author

Thackeray, an only child, was born in Calcutta, India, where his father, Richmond Thackeray (1 September 1781 – 13 September 1815), held the high rank of secretary to the board of revenue in the British East India Company. His mother, Anne Becher (1792–1864) was the second daughter of Harriet and John Harman Becher and was also a secretary (writer) for the East India Company.

William had been sent to England earlier, at the age of five, with a short stopover at St. Helena where the imprisoned Napoleon was pointed out to him. He was educated at schools in Southampton and Chiswick and then at Charterhouse School.

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_...