The History of Henry Esmond, Esq: A colonel in the service of Her Majesty Queen Anne written by himself

by William Makepeace Thackeray

Paperback, 1964

Status

Available

Call number

823.8

Collection

Publication

New American Library (1964), Paperback, 480 pages

Description

Classic Literature. Fiction. Historical Fiction. HTML: Can't get enough historical fiction? Immerse yourself in this imaginative retelling of the events that led up to and followed the restoration of the British monarchy in the late seventeenth century. Thackeray's sweeping epic encompasses a huge cast of fascinating historical characters, but focuses on the perspective of Henry Esmond, a military officer serving in Queen Anne's personal militia..

User reviews

LibraryThing member jnajack
This is a wonderful book by Thackery of the 19th century England period
LibraryThing member lindawwilson
The first half of the book was very good, but the second half was disappointing. The romance shifting from a 10 year infatuation for the daughter to the mother was most disturbing and unsatisfying. I had intended to read the sequel, the Virginians, but now I am not so sure. The history was rather
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complex and required a lot of ancillary reading in order to understand all the Jameses, pretenders, Georges, Annes, etc. Each had several different monikers. However, learning that was a positive aspect of the book.
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LibraryThing member antiquary
I read this as a romantic teenager and loved it, sympathizing with the sufferings of the young hero. However like other readers I found his marriage to the mother of the woman he had vainly loved a bit shocking.
LibraryThing member ACDoyleLibrary
"I recognize the beauty of the style, the consistency
of the character-drawing, the absolutely perfect Queen Anne atmosphere. There was never an historical novel written by a man who knew his period so thoroughly. But, great as
these virtues are, they are not the essential in a novel." --Through
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the Magic Door, p. 131-132
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LibraryThing member Schmerguls
I read this book in June of 1949, right after I finished my junior year in college. On June 10 I said of the book: Reading , slowly, in Henry Esmond. Moves in the lackadaisical style of the time it was written, and the style is torturous. On June 13 I said: "Am reading right along in Henry Esmond.
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The book is yet another example of why I say I dislike historical novels--though it is true I liked Kossak's well enough. But this thing, besides being couched in the sentimentally extreme language of emotion and dsvotion, injects its own characters into history--and I don't know where fact leaves off. There is really little to the story. I wonder only who the old hero marries. If he ends up marrying Beatrix, I'll laugh. But I guess he won't. Unless Thackeray has her reform: but all the time he has spent delineating her character would have been wasted." On June 14 I said: "Finished Henry Esmond. Laughed at the ending. ( SPOILER) He married Beatrix's mother. What a cumbersom-sounding story that was. i don't care for the style of novels of those days, and I think historical novels bad as a rule. If there are good ones, they are the exception. But all in all, I didn't mind the book.
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LibraryThing member hbergander
I first read the book, when I was thirteen. Spontaneously, I would have liked Henry to be my friend, offering him same family conditions: being my father’s illegitimate son.
LibraryThing member brendanus
Anne was the Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland between 8 March 1702 and 1 May 1707. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, two of her realms, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, united as a single sovereign state known as Great Britain. Wikipedia
LibraryThing member lidaskoteina
I started reading this but just couldn't stand it. People's understood senses of what constituted honor and right behavior seemed to me contrary to common sense. So I didn't finish the book.

Language

Original publication date

1852

Physical description

480 p.

ISBN

0451001249 / 9780451001245

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