Barry Lyndon
About this eBook
Redmond Barry is born into a poor Irish family and desires to become a man of status and means. Although ambitious, he’s naturally mischievous and has no interest in doing things the right way. After falling into debt, he joins the military but quickly discovers his disdain for public service. He goes AWOL and attempts to earn a living by cheating people on the streets. He gambles and lies his way from one situation to the next. It’s not until a major tragedy that Redmond Barry, now known as Barry Lyndon, is forced to confront his reality.
Barry Lyndon is a character-driven portrait of a man on a path to self-destruction. William Makepeace Thackeray explores the dangers of debauchery, greed and overt self-preservation. Alongside Vanity Fair, Barry Lyndon is one of the author’s best-known works. It was famously adapted for film in 1975 by director Stanley Kubrick.
With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Barry Lyndon is both modern and readable.
About the author
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863) was a multitalented writer and illustrator born in British India. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where some of his earliest writings appeared in university periodicals. As a young adult he encountered various financial issues including the failure of two newspapers. It wasn’t until his marriage in 1836 that he found direction in both his life and career. Thackeray regularly contributed to Fraser's Magazine, where he debuted a serialized version of one of his most popular novels, The Luck of Barry Lyndon. He spent his decades-long career writing novels, satirical sketches and art criticism.
