London: The Biography

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is the question readers may ask themselves before beginning the latest offering from Ackroyd (Wilkie Collins). The Peter Ackroyd CBE is an English novelist and biographer with a particular interest in the history and culture of London. Forecast: Published to acclaim in England, this is virtually guaranteed major review coverage here, and the publisher will also shoot for national media.

London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd - Penguin Random House Canada London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd - Penguin Random House

Its chapters take on such varied themes as drinking, sex, childhood, poverty, crime and punishment, sewage, food, pestilence and fire, immigration, maps, theatre and war.Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses.

Peter Ackroyd (Author of London) - Goodreads Peter Ackroyd (Author of London) - Goodreads

Splendid account enlivened by the author's infectious belief in the close relationship between past and present. This title includes chapters on the history of silence and the history of light, the history of childhood and the history of suicide, the history of Cockney speech and the history of drink.Benedict's, Ealing and at Clare College, Cambridge, from which he graduated with a double first in English. it embodies the energy and exaltation of a city continually beating in great waves of progress and of confidence. Ackroyd covers unrest and peace, fires and ruins, river and rail transport, crime and punishment, wealth and poverty, markets and churches, uncontrolled growth and barely controlled filth. The reader segues through this litany of lists and anthology of anecdotes via the sketchiest of topical linkages, but no matter—not a page is dull, until brief closing chapters in which Ackroyd succumbs to bathos, for which he's instantaneously redeemed by the preceding chapters.

LONDON: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd - Publishers Weekly LONDON: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd - Publishers Weekly

Series of brief bios are old hat by now, but perhaps only the prolific novelist/historian Ackroyd would singlehandedly undertake an entire series—on English cultural figures—himself. Novelist and biographer Ackroyd (The Canterbury Tales) provides a history of and meditation on the actual and imaginary Venice in a volume as opulent and paradoxical as the city itself. Ackroyd worked at The Spectator magazine between 1973 and 1977 and became joint managing editor in 1978. Ackroyd has always shown a great interest in the city of London, and one of his best known works, London: The Biography, is an extensive and thorough discussion of London through the ages. They are at least reading copies, complete and in reasonable condition, but usually secondhand; frequently they are superior examples.

Describes London from the time of the Druids to the beginning of the twenty-first century, noting magnificence in both epochs. In near fine condition, the binding is straight and tight, the boards clean and the lettering on the spine bright.