Peter Ackroyd

A short study of everything that goes on under London--from original springs and streams and Roman amphitheaters to Victorian sewers, gang hideouts, and modern tube stations.

Thomas More (1478-1535) was a renowned statesman; the author of a political treatise, Utopia; and, most famously, a Catholic martyr and saint. Born into the professional classes, Thomas More applied his formidable intellect and well-placed connections to become the most powerful man in England, second only to the king. In reconstructing the life of Thomas More, Peter Ackroyd provides an unmatched portrait of the everyday, religious, and intellectual...

A tour de force in the tradition of Hawksmoor and Chatterton, Peter Ackroyd's new novel of deceit and betrayal is a witty reimagining of a great nineteenth-century Shakespeare forgery.

Charles and Mary Lamb, who will achieve lasting fame as the authors of Tales from Shakespeare for children, are still living at their parents' home. Charles, an aspiring writer bored stiff by his job as a clerk at the East India Company, enjoys a drink or three

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The Venetians' language and way of thinking set them aside from the rest of Italy. They are an island people, linked to the sea and to the tides rather than the land. This latest work from the incomparable Peter Ackroyd, like a magic gondola, transports its listeners to that sensual and surprising city. His account embraces facts and romance, conjuring up the atmosphere of the canals, bridges, and sunlit squares, the churches and the markets, the...

Peter Ackroyd is our preeminent chronicler of London. In Queer City, he looks at the metropolis in a whole new way - through the history and experiences of its gay population. In Roman Londinium the penis was worshipped and homosexuality was considered admirable. The city was dotted with lupanaria ('wolf dens' or public pleasure houses), fornices (brothels) and thermiae (hot baths). Then came the Emperor Constantine, with his bishops and clergy, monks...

Ackroyd brings the age of the Tudors to vivid life, charting the course of English history from Henry VIII's cataclysmic break with Rome to the epic rule of Elizabeth I.

A concise portrait of the iconic film star traces his humble theatrical beginnings through his honorary Academy Award win, sharing anecdotes about his lesser-known antics and associations.