London: the Biography by Peter Ackroyd

This book seriously took me three to four months to finish. But I was glad I did. Ackroyd took a very unique approach to London by writing a Biography about it.

A biography? About a City? Huh?

That was my first reaction. But I really enjoyed this approach. It make London seem like a living, breathing, entity. Which I think it is, with its breath of life being given by people that live there and the experiences that have shaped its existence.

For example, I had no idea how much London has changed since the Victorian Period. Like other American English Majors when I visited London I assumed I would be able to visit places that existed during the life-time of Charles Dickens. Not so. The City keeps changing and growing.

They have preserved a few buildings and places, but only the extremely famous ones, or ones that are still being used for its original purpose, or nearly. (like the Tower of London...although the purpose of that has changed, it is still basically a royal housing/prison. Although now-a-days it is a tourist attraction. But it has been that since the eighteen hundreds. It still has a PURPOSE). Other buildings, like some of the docks that had existed on the Thames (pronounced "Tems". Get it right! :) ) since the middle ages have been completely bulldozed to make way for a expensive hotel. But whilst bulldozing old buildings, they often find even older ruins underneath, often from Roman times. The complexity of the city is amazing.

Now, not very many people actually LIVE in the city-center of London. Most people live in the suburbs. Also WWII and the Blitz changed the face of London permanently, from buildings being completely destroyed to social barriers being crossed.

This book was FASCINATING, you can tell that Ackroyd simply loves London. It is full of interesting facts about how certain streets and squares have always (and still) have the same professions and types of people on them. Where some old rhymes come from, urban legends, catch-phrases, etc.

I have a really interest in the History of England (if I had been smart, I would have directed my History studies in that direction) and this book was a wonderful eye-opening introduction to London, the heart of England.

So if you are interested in History, especially of the British Isles, this is a very good book for you. Mind you, it is 760 pages long, so it might take you awhile. I heartily recommend it.