Find Request It
Cover Image

Thames the biography

In Thames: the Biography, Ackroyd writes about connections between the Thames and such historical figures as Julius Caesar and Henry VIII, and offers memorable portraits of the ordinary men and women who depend on the river for their livelihoods. He visits all the towns and villages along the river,...

Full description

Saved in:
Main Author: Ackroyd, Peter, 1949-
Format: Books Print Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, c2007.
Edition:1st ed. in the U.S. of America
Subjects:
Thames River (England) > History.
London (England) > History.
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Summary:In Thames: the Biography, Ackroyd writes about connections between the Thames and such historical figures as Julius Caesar and Henry VIII, and offers memorable portraits of the ordinary men and women who depend on the river for their livelihoods. He visits all the towns and villages along the river, from Oxfordshire to London, and describes the magnificent royal residences, as well as the bridges and docks, locks and weirs, found along its 215-mile run. The Thames as a source of artistic inspiration comes brilliantly to life as Ackroyd invokes Chaucer, Shakespeare, Turner, Shelley, and other writers, poets, and painters who have been enchanted by its many moods and colors.--From publisher description.
Item Description:"Originally published in Great Britain by Chatto & Windus, London, in 2007"--T.p. verso.
Physical Description:xvi, 473 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 25 cm.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:9780385526234 (alk. paper)
0385526237 (alk. paper)
Author Notes: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 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)

Similar Items