Customer Reviews
Limited history - By: SACD audiophile, 08 Aug 2008 
Rambling, unfocused, poorly researched, & little real history. An enjoyable holiday read perhaps, but those looking to learn about the origins of this great city should look elsewhere. Most of the discussion centers on the 17th & 18th centuries & most of the anecdotes come from only two souces. The author could have taken the trouble to do a little more research! Very disappointing.
London Marathon - By: Peregrine Buckfastleigh Snetterton-Nafferton ththymbleby-Clotworthy-Thickthornthwaite, XVIth Earl of Goole, Crowle & Snaith, 13 Jan 2008 Couldn't/wouldn't get into it. Have read very little of it, & it was some time ago & I don't really remember it, so have no right to comment. Especiallyin the midst of such distinguished reviewers who have displayed the qualities required of anyone who completes the London Marathon.
But I will anyway. Viz:
I can relate to some reviewers' sentiments. Some, though not all.
One of those choice few I addressed as follows:
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Talk of damning with faint praise! You seem to want to praise it like most of the other reviewers, but you let slip the fact that it doesn't really work for you until Page 772! Well, I personally can't be bothered to plough all the way through to Page 772 to get the gold! It's not as though there aren't any other books out there or other things I could be doing besides reading for that matter.
The following just sprang to mind regarding what [little] I've seen of Ackroyd's work:
[Onerous and] ponderous [portentous] tome, heavy with obsessiveness & lacking a certain leaven of lightness, charm & humour.
To my mind, anyway. Others have different minds, obviously.
Maybe I'll post this & see what happens if I dare to go against the flow!
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Oh no! I've just posted it!
Well, I'll just have to sit back & see what happens.
'Tis all theatre, I'll tell myself as the brickbats fly. Ouch!
Sorry, sorry. I take it all back.
Ouch!
London in all its glory - By: M. Bennett, 23 Dec 2007 
I love London & am constantly excited about learning more about this,in my opinion, the best cityin the world. This book is fascinating & if you can't get through it allin one go (it's a monster of a book) then you can dipin & out of it. I would recommend it to anyone whether or not you know the city well.
Love it or hate it... - By: Mr. R. Williams, 31 Jul 2007 Whether you love London or hate London, you have to admit that it has been a world-important city for centuries, perhaps millenia. Livingin the place it is very easy to actually love & hate it at the same time. The detailed & well-researched book by Peter Ackroyd decribes the highs & lows of London from pre-history to 2000. The writer's strong & accessible style brings the city to life to the extent that one can almost hear it & smell it. Only one very minor quibble about people moving to the United States after the Great Fire - over a century before there was a United States - calling it the American Colonies would have been better. But that should not detract from Ackroyd's description of a city that was almost a country within a country for much of its history, &in some ways perhaps still is.
fascinating - By: Claudine L, 10 Apr 2007 very interesting, full of little known anecdotes about different aspects of the city & lifein London through the ages. Often very funny as well..just couldnt put it down!
