This critical biography offers an engaging look into the life, world, and works of one of the greatest Victorian novelists. Catherine Peters offers a compelling portrait of Thackeray's early childhood and schooling, his friendships and his marriage, and his work for Fraser's Monthly and Punch. She devotes entire chapters to his masterworks Vanity Fair, Pendennis, and Henry Esmond, and also draws illuminating comparisons between Thackeray's approach to writing fiction and that of his great contemporary, Dickens.

Born into gentlemanly affluence, William Thackeray's life was shattered by early separation from his mother. Unhappy at school and idle at Cambridge, he gambled away part of his fortune before he was 21. This biography explores his life and literary success and is illustrated with his own drawings.

Vols. for 1871-76, 1913-14 include an extra number, The Christmas bookseller, separately paged and not included in the consecutive numbering of the regular series.