London: The Biography
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Paperback, 880 pages
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.co.uk ReviewWhen the eminent novelist and biographer Peter Ackroyd finished writing London: The Biography, he almost immediately had a heart attack, such was the effort of his 800-page work about the "human body" that is this most fascinating of cities. And not just any human body either, but "envisaged in the form of a young man with his arms outstretched in a gesture of liberation... it embodies the energy and exaltation of a city continually beating in great waves of progress and of confidence."
Probably there is no one better placed than Ackroyd--the author of mammoth lives of Dickens and Blake, and novels such as Hawksmoor and Dan Leno and the Lime House Golem which set singular characters against the backdrop of a city constantly shifting in time--to write such a rich, sinewy account of "Infinite London".
Ackroyd's London is no mere chronology. 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. We learn that gin was "the demon of London for half a century", and that "it has been estimated that in the 1740s and 1750s there were 17,000 'gin-houses'." Fleet Street was an area known for its "violent delights" where "a 14-year-old boy, only 18 inches high, was to be seen in 1702 at a grocer's shop called the Eagle and Child by Shoe Lane." By the mid 19th century "London had become known as the greatest city on earth." By 1939 "one in five of the British population had become a Londoner."
Though London's chapters vary meaning that it can be dipped into at random, Ackroyd is employing a skilful and continuous theme throughout, which constantly links past and present--the similarities of children's games in Lambeth in 1910 and 1999; the obsession with time--"in 21st-century London time rushes forward and is everywhere apparent", while in 18th-century London the church clock of Newgate "regulated the times of hanging." Above all, he insists that the "dark secret life" of the metropolis is as relevant today as it was in perhaps its most appropriate period, Victorian London.
Again and again Ackroyd returns to the image of London as a living organism, hence his use of the word "biography" in the title. At once awed by and intimate with this "ubiquitous" city, he stresses that "it can be located nowhere in particular... its circumference is everywhere." --Catherine Taylor
Reviews
(Rated 1 out of 5)
Couldn't/wouldn't get into it. Have read very little of it, and it was some time ago and I don't really remember it, so have no right to comment. Especially in the midst of such distinguished reviewers who have displayed the qualities required of anyone who completes the London Marathon.
But I will anyway. Viz:
I can relate to some reviewers' sentiments. Some, though not all.
One of those choice few I addressed as follows:
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Talk of damning with faint praise! You seem to want to praise it like most of the other reviewers, but you let slip the fact that it doesn't really work for you until Page 772! Well, I personally can't be bothered to plough all the way through to Page 772 to get the gold! It's not as though there aren't any other books out there or other things I could be doing besides reading for that matter.
The following just sprang to mind regarding what [little] I've seen of Ackroyd's work:
[Onerous and] ponderous [portentous] tome, heavy with obsessiveness and lacking a certain leaven of lightness, charm and humour.
To my mind, anyway. Others have different minds, obviously.
Maybe I'll post this and see what happens if I dare to go against the flow!
----
Oh no! I've just posted it!
Well, I'll just have to sit back and see what happens.
'Tis all theatre, I'll tell myself as the brickbats fly. Ouch!
Sorry, sorry. I take it all back.
Ouch!
(Rated 5 out of 5)
I love London and am constantly excited about learning more about this, in my opinion, the best city in the world. This book is fascinating and if you can't get through it all in one go (it's a monster of a book) then you can dip in and out of it. I would recommend it to anyone whether or not you know the city well.
(Rated 5 out of 5)
Whether you love London or hate London, you have to admit that it has been a world-important city for centuries, perhaps millenia. Living in the place it is very easy to actually love and hate it at the same time. The detailed and well-researched book by Peter Ackroyd decribes the highs and lows of London from pre-history to 2000. The writer's strong and accessible style brings the city to life to the extent that one can almost hear it and smell it. Only one very minor quibble about people moving to the United States after the Great Fire - over a century before there was a United States - calling it the American Colonies would have been better. But that should not detract from Ackroyd's description of a city that was almost a country within a country for much of its history, and in some ways perhaps still is.
(Rated 5 out of 5)
very interesting, full of little known anecdotes about different aspects of the city and life in London through the ages. Often very funny as well..just couldnt put it down!
(Rated 5 out of 5)
A rambling, roller coaster of a book, which in some cases might be a minus point, but in this case seems to go with the sprawling nature and long history of the city. A great thought provoking read.