Set during the Napoleonic wars, Vanity Fair follows Becky Sharp as she cuts a swathe through Regency society. War, money, and national identity are the themes of Thackeray's great satirical novel, as it exposes a world on the make. In Becky, Thackeray created one of the most memorable female characters in Victorian fiction. We are more immersed in war now than we have ever been; we experience it and are affected by it remotely even when our country isn't actively participating. By focusing on how war affects the people who aren't heroes, Thackeray has given us the greatest novel about Waterloo, and one that is just as relevant 200 years later."