Audiobook
$0.00
with membership

Hardcover
$29.95

Paperback
$10.95

Learn more

Read for Free

OR

$12.99 with 35 percent savings

Print List Price: $19.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

Sold by Hachette Book Group. Price set by seller.

Add

audiobook for $12.99 $22.04

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Evelyn Waugh

Follow

Brideshead Revisited Kindle Edition

by Evelyn Waugh (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

6,495 ratings

See all formats and editions

Selected by Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of the century and called "Evelyn Waugh's finest achievement" by the New York Times, Brideshead Revisited is a stunning exploration of desire, duty, and memory. The wellsprings of desire and the impediments to love come brilliantly into focus in Evelyn Waugh's masterpiece — a novel that immerses us in the glittering and seductive world of English aristocracy in the waning days of the empire. Through the story of Charles Ryder's entanglement with the Flytes, a great Catholic family, Evelyn Waugh charts the passing of the privileged world he knew in his own youth and vividly recalls the sensuous pleasures denied him by wartime austerities. At once romantic, sensuous, comic, and somber, Brideshead Revisited transcends Waugh's early satiric explorations and reveals him to be an elegiac, lyrical novelist of the utmost feeling and lucidity. "A genuine literary masterpiece." —Time "Heartbreakingly beautiful...The twentieth century's finest English novel." —Los Angeles Times

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Evelyn Waugh was born in Hampstead in 1903. His first novel, Decline and Fall, was published in 1928 and it was soon followed by Vile Bodies, Black Mischief, A Handful of Dust, and Scoop. He travelled extensively, served in the Royal Marines and the Royal Horse Guards and continued to write, winning many prestigious literary awards. Evelyn Waugh died in 1966.

From AudioFile

Charles Ryder is fascinated by Lord Sebastian Flyte at Oxford. After spending time at the family's home, Brideshead, he develops an attachment to the whole family; years later he is engaged to marry Sebastian's sister Julia. This tidy abridgment of Evelyn Waugh's story of faith, decadence, love, and disillusionment between the wars is narrated by Jeremy Northam. His portrayal of the Marchmains is masterful--the feckless Sebastian is irresistible, the younger Cordelia is delightful, and Lady Marchmain is formidable and manipulative. We understand why Charles is spellbound by Sebastian and Julia. He also successfully creates characters across gender, class (Charles's army buddies), and country (Germans and Canadians). However, his performance of Charles is just a bit too laid-back--Charles seems a little dull, and listeners may wonder what Sebastian and Julia see in him. A.B. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B008745B32
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company
Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 11, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1.4 MB
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 439 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316216531
Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #16,897 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #11 in Classic Historical Fiction
- #59 in Classic Literary Fiction
- #68 in Gay & Lesbian (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
6,495 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Evelyn Waugh

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (/ˈɑːrθər ˈiːvlɪn ˈsɪndʒən wɔː/; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966), known by his pen name Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, biographies and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and reviewer of books. His most famous works include the early satires Decline and Fall (1928) and A Handful of Dust (1934), the novel Brideshead Revisited (1945) and the Second World War trilogy Sword of Honour (1952–61).

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Customer reviews

6,495 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Review this product

Write a customer review

Customers say

Customers praise the book's elegant prose and good dialogue, describing it as a classic novel of its time that manages surprising amounts of poignancy. Moreover, the characters are rich and engaging, and the book is full of theology, particularly focusing on the fascination with Catholic faith. Additionally, customers find it emotionally moving, describing it as a beautifully sad story about love and introspective melancholy. However, the pacing receives mixed reactions, with several customers finding it slow-paced, and opinions on humor are divided between those who find it humorous and those who find it boring.

Select to learn more

Writing quality Story quality Character development Thought provoking Emotional content Insight Humor Pacing

131 customers mention "Writing quality"119 positive12 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, noting its elegant prose and good dialogue.

"Great read. Jeremy Irons is the best narrator for this...." Read more

"...This language is certainly intentional, as is made clearly apparent in the preface...." Read more

"...this book would make me question my own existentialism, it is a wonderfully written yet beautiful sad story about one's own existence in a world..." Read more

"...“Charm is the enemy of art,” we’re told. Waugh is a skilled writer, producing credible characters and dialogue, rich settings, and his own shrewd..." Read more

117 customers mention "Story quality"101 positive16 negative

Customers praise the book's story quality, describing it as a compelling and classic novel of its time that manages to be surprisingly poignant.

"This is really a classic novel in format and may endure to be one...." Read more

"...The book is crammed with delights: vignettes galore of the foibles, pleasures, travels and travails of the very rich, in the 1920s, and short but..." Read more

"...Some have said this is one of the best novels of the 20th century, I agree and highly recommended…SLT" Read more

"...This is a poignant and ultimately tragic tale that has much to do with deep family conflicts and loyalties, the boozy, scintillating, romantic..." Read more

47 customers mention "Character development"38 positive9 negative

Customers appreciate the character development in the book, finding the characters rich and engaging, with one customer noting the vivid portrayal and another highlighting the varied personalities of the British establishment.

"...Waugh is a skilled writer, producing credible characters and dialogue, rich settings, and his own shrewd insights...." Read more

"...conversations aren’t realistic, but they do convey a great deal about the characters and viewpoints...." Read more

"...I very much enjoyed the ride. The characters are rich and interesting and the writing is well worth a re-read." Read more

"...There are great characters, wonderful humor, and a fascinating story. I highly recommend it." Read more

36 customers mention "Thought provoking"36 positive0 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking, with many appreciating its theological content and fascination with Catholic faith.

"...The book is about “the operation of divine grace on a group of diverse but closely connected characters”. The book seems to be more than that to me...." Read more

"Waugh writes a magnificent novel littered with imagery of the 1920s British aristocracy...." Read more

"...Thematically, the novel is a defense of privilege and of religion. Maybe these two are linked, in a “divine right” sense, but neither is persuasive...." Read more

"...Yet its sharp insights on society and religion, not to mention liberal and welcome doses of sarcastic good humor, offer far more than a mere..." Read more

27 customers mention "Emotional content"24 positive3 negative

Customers find the book emotionally powerful, describing it as a beautifully sad story about love and introspective melancholy, with several customers noting how it carved emotions in their hearts.

"...It is about the choices we make, the paths we take in love and faithfulness." Read more

"...my own existentialism, it is a wonderfully written yet beautiful sad story about one's own existence in a world where we are all looking to be..." Read more

"...in this book, unlike any of the others of his I have read, you get a feeling of sympathy, too, of people being observed not just with precision and..." Read more

"...family conflicts and loyalties, the boozy, scintillating, romantic friendships of youth, British social hierarchy, debilitating alcoholism, love and..." Read more

21 customers mention "Insight"21 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful, requiring some introspection, with one customer noting how it delves deeply into various issues and captures the inner lives of its characters.

"...credible characters and dialogue, rich settings, and his own shrewd insights...." Read more

"...Waugh writes with a fine sense of style and language, and cleverness, too, but in this book, unlike any of the others of his I have read, you get a..." Read more

"...Love, I have found over the course of my life, is the most important ingredient in anyone's life, irrespective of time, place,wealth-or lack of- or..." Read more

"...perfect balance in his speech pattern and is able to convey disdain, surprise, cordiality and love...." Read more

33 customers mention "Humor"17 positive16 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the humor in the book, with some finding it humorous while others find it boring.

"...Sebastian was very rich and bored. He wanted fun, lightness, silliness; he wanted entertainment to fill the emptiness within...." Read more

"...Because the subject is ostensibly serious, the book lacks the dry wit and occasional self-deprecation of those comedies of manners that we love so..." Read more

"...on society and religion, not to mention liberal and welcome doses of sarcastic good humor, offer far more than a mere precious curio...." Read more

"Wasn't my favorite book. Kind of mundane and boring in my opinion and the writing was a bit difficult to understand..." Read more

22 customers mention "Pacing"11 positive11 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book, with several finding it slow-paced, while one customer describes it as riveting in every way.

"...I knew it was an important work, so I read it. It was riveting in every way. A terrific book...." Read more

"Although parts of Brideshead are slow paced, the details of the characters and the settings are quite interesting, especially to those familiar with..." Read more

"...written, both in the evocation of characters and in the evocation of physical sensation -- the gillyflowers outside the window in the summer, the..." Read more

"...is a book best read in one's youth for as a 60+ someone I found it nearly silly. Such wordy, lengthening dribble more or less...." Read more

Reviews with images

See all photos

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.

KBklyn
Great read.
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2025
Verified Purchase

Great read. Jeremy Irons is the best narrator for this.

I have read the book maybe 6 times, and seen the Granada TV series maybe 20 times. This audiobook is a splendid and faithful narration.

Read more

Helpful

Report
Tigerlily64
Faith, Love, Betrayal
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
This is really a classic novel in format and may endure to be one. There is formal ornamental language throughout the book to reflect the aristocratic culture of the time. This language is certainly intentional, as is made clearly apparent in the preface. The reader learns about the English aristocracy, their manners, food, furniture, house and the grounds of their estates. The disadvantage of this type of language is that the reader’s mind may drift at times. Sometimes this requires rereading some of the paragraphs, especially in the middle section of the book.

The plot is set in a changing world in Britain and America prior to and during World War II. The PBS series, Brideshead Revisited, aired in the 1980s, and is available on DVD or download today to supplement the reading of this novel. The television series helps bring to life the characters and make them solidify in your memory.

Captain Charles Ryder and his company of soldiers are to set up headquarters at a large estate. Charles recognizes the mansion as Brideshead. The memories of his connection to Brideshead in his youth are awakened.

He was a young artist when he met Lord Sebastian Flyte at Oxford in 1923. Sebastian was very rich and bored. He wanted fun, lightness, silliness; he wanted entertainment to fill the emptiness within. He carried Aloysius, his toy teddy bear everywhere. Charles was infatuated with him. Sebastian was irresponsible but his family bailed him out. His family took steps to oversee his activities and hired Mr. Samgrass to keep an eye on him. Sebastian’s family, especially Lady Marchmain Flyte, his mother, pulled Charles into intimacy in order to control Sebastian. She succeeded in making Charles open up to her, but her attempts to convert Charles to Catholicism failed. Sebastian wanted to get away from his family; he felt trapped. He was less and less in love with Charles as Charles become close to his mother.

Sebastian drank more and more. His family, especially his mother, tried to control this, but Sebastian only drank more heavily. Charles wanted to please Sebastian and win his approval, so he gave him money when he asked for it. Sebastian’s mother coldly asked Charles to leave Brideshead when she found he had given Sebastian money for drinking.

Charles had had enough and distanced himself from Brideshead, although he still pined for Sebastian. He married Celia, a pretty woman, who took pride in his success as a painter and worked hard to promote him. Charles was attracted to her initially but did not love her. After returning from a 2-year trip to Central America where he had gone to renew his artistic inspiration, Charles showed indifference to his wife and children. When he and Celia were on a ship on vacation, he saw Julia, Sebastian’s sister. He was attracted to her because she reminded him of Sebastian.

Julia and Charles both got divorced so they could get married. However, as her father lay dying and Charles did not see the purpose of a priest giving her unconscious father, Lord Marchmain, the “last rites”, she realized that she could not marry Charles and give up her religion.

The author says the book is about faith in God, the Brideshead family vs Charles, who is a nonbeliever. The book is about “the operation of divine grace on a group of diverse but closely connected characters”. The book seems to be more than that to me. It is about the choices we make, the paths we take in love and faithfulness.

Read more

49 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
Amazon Customer
Perfect
Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2025
Verified Purchase
Arrived in perfect condition. Thank you!

Read more

Helpful

Report
Marie A Frazier
A Beautifully Sad Story about Love, Devotion, and Divinity
Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2024
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Waugh writes a magnificent novel littered with imagery of the 1920s British aristocracy. We are welcomed by a bright and rugged, yet older Charles Ryder, who during World War II, reminiscences about his life upon returning to and setting up War efforts at the old Brideshead estate. The reader is introduced to the Flyte family through Sebastian who at first feels slightly out of touch with reality, yet hopelessly longing to belong in a world. We get a glimpse of the socialite class who is just as fragile and broken we are. Upon reading this in a matter of two weeks, it left me feeling somewhat sad with pondering thoughts. Waugh says this is a book about religion, but it's way more than that. It's about how much any man or woman can feel wanted and loved by anyone and still feel inadequate by the decisions we make in other's perceptions. The book asks of us could we be faithful and forgiving in our devotion to ourselves and each other. Could we love someone as much as we love ourselves and as much as God loves us? Can we handle the decisions we make knowing we can be judged or perceived by those decisions in the future? Can we seek forgiveness for decisions we made as we carve paths that will direct and determine our future? I think we see this play out through Charles's recollections of his time with the Flyte family. Especially, with siblings Sebastian and Julia. We are at a tug-of-war between Charles's intimate feelings towards them as we read on about what their lives become later in life. I wonder if we all are seeking forgiveness and atonement for loving and devoting ourselves to the essence of the human condition. Or do we make peace with how things are and move on? While I haven't ever thought this book would make me question my own existentialism, it is a wonderfully written yet beautiful sad story about one's own existence in a world where we are all looking to be loved and at peace with our life decisions.

Read more

21 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
Savoir Faire
Charming and shallow
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2021
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Brideshead Revisited is a sentimental look at English aristocratic life in the 1920s, all cricket and cucumber sandwiches. As much as I enjoy dialogue with “I say,” and “righty-o,” I have little patience for English aristocracy, especially after The Road to Wigan Pier.

Waugh acknowledges the difficulty by having his protagonist, Charles, criticized for his schmaltzy paintings of English manor houses. “Charm is the enemy of art,” we’re told. Waugh is a skilled writer, producing credible characters and dialogue, rich settings, and his own shrewd insights.

Thematically, the novel is a defense of privilege and of religion. Maybe these two are linked, in a “divine right” sense, but neither is persuasive. We are led to believe that the Brideshead dynasty is entitled to privilege because they have fought for king and country since Henry the Fifth.

The common people can’t organize an army without the officer class. They also don’t have proper respect for the finer things, like Brideshead’s renaissance fountain. It should be noted that the Oxford lads caper in their fountain, Mercury, so clearly a double standard.

If not for his own commentary, we would suspect Waugh of subverting his theme. Likewise, with the defense of religion. Lady Marchmain’s devout Catholicism maims her four children so that none is able to produce an heir. Thus ends the noble line, leaving middle-class Charles to defend the realm.

Overall, a good book, but I would recommend Parade’s End, instead, by Ford Madox Ford. Written during the period, and not as a reminiscence, it is both more credible and more grounded.

Read more

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Antje (Dutchie)
Koop de duurdere Kindle versie
Reviewed in the Netherlands on March 20, 2021
Verified Purchase

*Dit oordeel betreft alleen deze Kindle-versie, NIET de inhoud van het boek.*

Omdat dit boek totaal onleesbaar was heb ik uit nieuwsgierigheid een fragment besteld van de Penguin-versie ter vergelijk. Daaruit bleek dat in deze goedkope variant vrijwel alle interpunctie is weggevallen en ook veel kleine woorden. Doe jezelf een plezier en koop dit boek voor 7,50 € in plaats van 0,74 €.

En Amazon: leuk dat jullie een boek aanbieden voor 74 cent maar als het zo waardeloos in elkaar zit laat het dan maar. Zo gaan er alleen maar mensen denken dat Waugh niet kon schrijven.

Read more
Report
Translate review to English
francescot
un libro usato di qualità
Reviewed in Italy on February 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
Per chi ama i libri usati (nel senso che si vede che sono stati letti) è perfetto; le condizioni della copertina sono ottime, qualche capitolo interno è stato studiato, evidenziato e riporta degli appunti a matita, ma il fascino dei libri usati è proprio questo. Il servizio di consegna è stato eccellente: il libro è arrivato in anticipo e si è rivelato uno gradita sorpresa per la persona che doveva riceverlo come regalo di compleanno

Read more
Report
Translate review to English
anil kumar.s
Masterpiece of a book
Reviewed in India on August 20, 2019
Verified Purchase
This is a masterpiece by Evelyn Waugh. This is a very good edition of the book at a very affordable price.

Read more
Report
oldtrout
Irritating punctuation
Reviewed in Germany on March 8, 2025
Verified Purchase
Great to read this lovely old classic again. The punctuation on the kindle format, however, is quite erratic. Very irritating!

Read more
Report
Piero Tedeschi
Uma Inglaterra que desapareceu
Reviewed in Brazil on January 21, 2021
Verified Purchase
Um clássico! Waugh escreve em um Inglês maravilhosa e observa cirurgicamente a decadência moral e financeira da british upper class. Leitura obrigatória, no original.

Read more
Report
Translate review to English

Follow the author

Brideshead Revisited Kindle Edition

Customers who bought this item also bought

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

From AudioFile

Product details

Videos

About the author

Evelyn Waugh

Customer reviews

Review this product

Customers say

Select to learn more

Images in this review

Reviews with images

Perhaps my favorite 1900 era novel

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read.

4.0 out of 5 stars Faith, Love, Betrayal

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautifully Sad Story about Love, Devotion, and Divinity

3.0 out of 5 stars Charming and shallow

Top reviews from other countries

1.0 out of 5 stars Koop de duurdere Kindle versie

5.0 out of 5 stars un libro usato di qualità

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece of a book

5.0 out of 5 stars Irritating punctuation

5.0 out of 5 stars Uma Inglaterra que desapareceu

Report an issue

Great read.

Faith, Love, Betrayal

Perfect

A Beautifully Sad Story about Love, Devotion, and Divinity

Charming and shallow

Koop de duurdere Kindle versie

un libro usato di qualità

Masterpiece of a book

Irritating punctuation

Uma Inglaterra que desapareceu