William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) was a British author and novelist mostly known for his satirical works such as "Vanity Fair" that showed an ironic representation of the British society of those times. "The History of Henry Esmond" is a historical novel that tells the story of Henry Esmond, a colonel in the service of Queen Anne of England. Most of the major events of the book happen between the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, specifically English Restoration, the Glorious Revolution, the War of the Spanish Succession, the Hamilton-Mohun Duel and the Hanoverian Succession.