London A Biography

Here are two thousand years of London's history and folklore, its chroniclers and criminals and plain citizens, its food and drink and countless pleasures. Blackfriar's and Charing Cross, Paddington and Bedlam. Westminster Abbey and St. Martin in the Fields. Cockneys and vagrants. Immigrants, peasants, and punks. The Plague, the Great Fire, the Blitz. London at all times of day and night, and in all kinds of weather. In well-chosen anecdotes, keen observations, and the words of hundreds of its citizens and visitors, Ackroyd reveals the ingenuity and grit and vitality of London. Through a unique thematic tour of the physical city and its inimitable soul, the city comes alive.

Peter Ackroyd is a bestselling writer of both fiction and nonfiction. His most recent books include the biographies <b>Dickens, Blake</b><i>, </i>and <b>Thomas More</b><i> </i>and the novels <b>The Trial of Elizabeth Cree, Milton in America</b><i>, </i>and <b>The Plato Papers</b><i>. </i>He has won the Whitbread Biography Award, the Royal Society of Literature’s William Heinemann Award (jointly), the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and <i>The Guardian</i> fiction prize. He lives in London.