Thackeray's classic novel of British and European society is set around the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Becky Sharp, the penniless, orphaned daughter of an artist and a dancer, and Amelia Sedley, the sheltered child of a rich city merchant are unlikely, but firm friends. Becky, is an irrepressible schemer - one of the most seductive social climbers of all time - who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. While her friend, the meek and mild Amelia, pursues the opposite course. From the drawing rooms of Regency London to the fields of Waterloo, VANITY FAIR tells their story.