Peter Ackroyd - London (The Biography) (2nd Hand Paperback)
Synopsis
Much of Peter Ackroyd's work has been concerned with the life and past of London but here, as a culmination, is his definitive account of the city.
For him it is a living organism, with its own laws of growth and change, so London is a biography rather than a history. It differs from other histories, too, in the range and diversity of its contents.
Ackroyd portrays London from the time of the Druids to the beginning of the twenty-first century, noting magnificence in both epochs, but this is not a simple chronological record. There are 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.
Details
- Format : Slightly Larger, Extremely Thick 2nd Hand Paperback
- Condition : Good (A little edge wear only)
- Category : Non-Fiction - Britain
- Published : 2001 (Vintage)
- ISBN : 9780099422587
- SKU : B000106
- PPC : SP890gm
- RRP : £16.99
- Quantity Available : 1 only.
External Reviews
London - The Biography is perhaps the most important study of the city ever written, and confirms Ackroyd's status as what one critic has called 'our age's greatest London imagination.'
"What a book. Ackroyd has created the ultimate portrait of London as a living, breathing entity, not just a collection of old buildings and monuments. Rather than a dry chronological trawl through the history of our nation's capital, instead Ackroyd chooses themes and explores them through time and space, focussing on specific areas or ideas. Thus he paints a picture of an ever evolving city that defies all attempts to change or control it. London is its own master." - Goodreads Review.
The Author
Peter Ackroyd, CBE, FRSL is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a particular interest in the history and culture of London. For his novels about English history and culture and his biographies of, among others, William Blake & Charles Dickens,
