Books: London - The Biography By Peter Ackroyd

(Drivebycuriosity) - London is one of the greatest & fascinating cities of the world. The British capital deserves a good biographer. Fortunately the metropolis got one: Peter Ackroyd. His "London - The Biography" is a pleasure to read and highly informative (amazon). I had fun & learned a lot about "a queer a adventurous amalgam called London". Ackroyd calls the city "a labyrinth, half of stone and half of flesh". He declares, that "each area of London has its own unmistakable character, nurtured through time and history; together they resemble a thousand vortices within the general movement of the city". It seems that Ackroyd`s book is a biography of many "Londons".

The author did not write chronological. His book "moves quixotically through time, itself forming a labyrinth". Each of the about 80 chapters of the voluminous book (848 pages) focuses on a special topic. The author covers a vast variety of subjects, we read about periods of decay and recovery, about cycles of speculations and bankruptcies, about riots, mobs & fashions. We learn about the influence of the Romans, who called the city "Londinium", of the Angles, the Danes, the Saxons & the Normans, how immigrants & tourists transformed the city. We read about public executions, street gangs, bear-baiting & female sword fights, about eccentrics & exhibitionists. Ackroyd shows us the rich & the poor, the whores, monks & hermits, we look on churches, taverns & brothels, we observe how districts & streets developed and changed their character, how neighborhoods rose, fell and rose again.


The Thirst For Spectacle

Ackroyd can certainly write. I enjoyed his clear style & the precise but elegant - and often amusing -  descriptions. He presents the city as "the home of the spectacle, whether of the living or of the dead". "It is impossible to overestimate the thirst for spectacle among Londoners through many centuries": "When in 1590 the cadaver of Henry VII was carried along Cheapside, a wax effigiy of his royal peson, dressed in the robes of the states, was placed upon the hearse. The wagon was surrounded by priests and bishops, weeping, while the king`s household of six hundred persons followed in procession with lighted candles. It was the kind of funeral parade at which London has always excelled".

Being an economist I enjoyed how the author presented the development of London`s markets & businesses, "the intricate and gigantic mechanism which is London and London trade". Ackroyd reported about fish mongers, tanners, butcher & stock brokers: “The London artisan rarely understands more than one department of the trade to which he serve his apprenticeship, while countrymen workmen tend to know all the aspects of their professions - a token of the specialization of London".

 It`s amazing how Ackroyd squeezed a huge amount of literature - including Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, H.G. Wells, C.K. Chesterton, Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, Geoffrey Chaucer and myriads of other authors - into this book and manged to entertain the reader as weel. If you live in London, you will discover your city anew, if you are visiting the metropolis, the book helps you to understand the place much better, anyway"London" is a pleasure to read and gives a lively impression how our world has evolved over 2000 years.