Peter Ackroyd (1) (1949–)
Author of London: The Biography
For other authors named Peter Ackroyd, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Peter Ackroyd was born in London in 1949. He graduated from Cambridge University and was a Fellow at Yale (1971-1973). A critically acclaimed and versatile writer, Ackroyd began his career while at Yale, publishing two volumes of poetry. He continued writing poetry until he began delving into show more historical fiction with The Great Fire of London (1982). A constant theme in Ackroyd's work is the blending of past, present, and future, often paralleling the two in his biographies and novels. Much of Ackroyd's work explores the lives of celebrated authors such as Dickens, Milton, Eliot, Blake, and More. Ackroyd's approach is unusual, injecting imagined material into traditional biographies. In The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde (1983), his work takes on an autobiographical form in his account of Wilde's final years. He was widely praised for his believable imitation of Wilde's style. He was awarded the British Whitbread Award for biography in 1984 of T.S. Eliot, and the Whitbread Award for fiction in 1985 for his novel Hawksmoor. Ackroyd currently lives in London and publishes one or two books a year. He still considers poetry to be his first love, seeing his novels as an extension of earlier poetic work. (Bowker Author Biography) Peter Ackroyd is the award-winning author of four biographies, most recently the national bestseller "The Life of Thomas More", as well as ten novels, including "Chatterton" & "Hawksmoor". He lives in London, where he is at work on his next book, "London: The Biography. (Publisher Provided) Peter Ackroyd is a bestselling writer of both fiction and nonfiction. He lives in London. (Publisher Provided) show less
Series
Works by Peter Ackroyd
Foundation: The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors (2011) 1,297 copies, 30 reviews
Rebellion: The History of England from James I to the Glorious Revolution (2014) 516 copies, 7 reviews
Revolution: The History of England from the Battle of the Boyne to the Battle of Waterloo (2016) 358 copies, 7 reviews
Dominion: The History of England from the Battle of Waterloo to Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (2018) 263 copies, 2 reviews
The Canterbury Tales 1 copy
Peter Ackroyd 5 Books Collection Set History of England Series Vol 1-5 (Foundation, Tudors, Civil War, Revolution,… (2020) 1 copy
Brief Lives: Newton 1 copy
The Life of Thomas More r 1 copy
Dickens (dvd) 1 copy
Associated Works
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (1589) — Introduction, some editions — 32,494 copies, 169 reviews
Memoirs of the Extraordinary Life, Works, and Discoveries of Martinus Scriblerus (1741) — Foreword, some editions — 194 copies, 6 reviews
The East End: Four Centuries of London Life (1989) — Introduction, some editions — 44 copies, 1 review
Method and theory : proceedings of the London 1985 Achaemenid history workshop (1988) — Contributor — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Ackroyd, Peter
- Legal name
- Ackroyd, Peter Warwick
- Birthdate
- 1949-10-05
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- East Acton, Middlesex, England, UK
- Places of residence
- London, England, UK
- Education
- Clare College, University of Cambridge (MA|1971)
Yale University (Mellon Fellow 1972-1973)
St. Benedict's School, Ealing - Occupations
- novelist
biographer
tv writer/presenter
poet
historian
critic - Relationships
- Kuhn, Brian (partner)
- Organizations
- The Spectator
The Times - Awards and honors
- Mellon Fellow
British Book Award (1991)
Commander, Order of the British Empire (2003)
Fellow, Royal Society of Literature (1984)
James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1998)
Whitbread Prize for Biography (1984) (show all 7)
Foreign Honorary Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2006) - Agent
- Sheil Land Associates Ltd
- Short biography
- Peter Ackroyd is an award-winning novelist, broadcaster, biographer, poet and historian. He is the author of London Under and the bestselling London: The Biography and Thames: Sacred River. He has won a number of accolades including the Whitbread Biography Award, the Royal Society of Literature’s William Heinemann Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Guardian Fiction Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award. He holds a CBE for services to literature (The Browser).
Members
Discussions
Group Read: Peter Ackroyd - History of England series in 2015 Category Challenge (July 2018)
1001 Group Read - January, 2013: Hawksmoor in 1001 Books to read before you die (August 2013)
Reviews
Lists
Best Biographies (1)
Wyrd as Folk (1)
Booker Prize (1)
Unread books (1)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 83
- Also by
- 19
- Members
- 29,295
- Popularity
- #683
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 645
- ISBNs
- 737
- Languages
- 24
- Favorited
- 79