This vintage book contains a collection of stories written by William Thackeray, including "Catherine: A Story", "Rebecca and Rowena", "Major Gahagan", and more. "Catherine: A Story" was the first full-length novel that Thackeray wrote. His original motive was to question the Newgate school of crime fiction, which Thackeray believed glorified crime. To this end he based his story on the real life criminal Catherine Hayes, whom he portrayed as unflatteringly as possible. This collection is highly recommended for fans of Thackeray's work, and it would make for a worthy addition to any collection. William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 - 1863) was an esteemed English novelist during the nineteenth century. He became famous for his satirical novels, the most important and influential of which was "Vanity Fair". Many antiquarian books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.