William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. His fame rests chiefly on the novels Vanity Fair (1847–48), a panoramic survey of English manners and human frailties set in the Napoleonic era, and Henry Esmond (1852), set in the early 18th century.
“The History of Henry Esmond” is a historical novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, originally published in 1852. The book tells the story of the early life of Henry Esmond, a colonel in the service of Queen Anne of England. A typical example of Victorian historical novels, Thackeray's work of historical fiction tells its tale against the backdrop of late 17th- and early 18th-century. This is the classical example of English literature, so it’s absolutely must-read for every educated person.