title: The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. (English Library)
author:  William Makepeace Thackeray 
description: 'What spectacle is more August than that of a great king in exile? Who is more worthy of respect than a brave man in misfortune'? When "Henry Esmond" appeared in 1852, noted writers and critics of the time acclaimed it as the best historical novel ever written. Set in the reign of Queen Anne, the story follows the troubled progress of a gentleman and an officer in Marlborough's army, as he painfully wrestles with an emotional allegiance to the old Tory-Catholic England until, disillusioned, he comes to terms of a kind with the Whiggish-Protestant future. This change also entails a very uncomfortable switch in his affections. The love story of Henry Esmond is charged with sombre, unconscious emotions, yet is skilfully embedded into historical events which are convincing but never too prominent.
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  # The History of Henry Esmond, Esq.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### William Makepeace Thackeray
  
  
  This page copyright © 2001 Munsey's.
  
  
  
  
  
  http://www.munseys.com
  
  
  
  
  
  MY DEAR LORD,
  
  
  PREFACE.
  
  
  
  
  
  BOOK I. THE EARLY YOUTH OF HENRY ESMOND, UP TO THE
  
  
  TIME OF HIS LEAVING TRINITY COLLEGE, IN CAMBRIDGE.
  
  
    
  CHAPTER I. AN ACCOUNT OF THE FAMILY OF ESMOND OF
  
  
  CASTLEWOOD HALL.
  
  
    
  CHAPTER II. RELATES HOW FRANCIS, FOURTH VISCOUNT,
  
  
  ARRIVES AT CASTLEWOOD.
  
  
    
  CHAPTER III. WHITHER IN THE TIME OF THOMAS, THIRD
  
  
  VISCOUNT, I HAD PRECEDED HIM AS PAGE TO ISABELLA.
  
  
    
  CHAPTER IV. I AM PLACED UNDER A POPISH PRIEST AND
  
  
  BRED TO THAT RELIGION.-- VISCOUNTESS CASTLEWOOD.
  
  
    
  CHAPTER V. MY SUPERIORS ARE ENGAGED IN PLOTS FOR
  
  
  THE RESTORATION OF KING JAMES II.
  
  
    
  CHAPTER VI. THE ISSUE OF THE PLOTS.--THE DEATH OF
  
  
  THOMAS, THIRD VISCOUNT OF CASTLEWOOD; AND THE IMPRISONMENT OF HIS
  
  
  VISCOUNTESS.
  
  
    
  CHAPTER VII. I AM LEFT AT CASTLEWOOD AN ORPHAN,
  
  
  AND FIND MOST