In this perfect companion to London: The Biography, Peter Ackroyd once again delves into the hidden byways of history, describing ... read full description
reviews
Feb 06, 2010
Hood
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Bound Miami SunPost January 28, 2010
http://miamisunpost.com/themorgue/2010.0... (p17)
If the River was History
Navigating The Thames
John Hood
Okay, the Nile might lead us back to Ancient Egypt, the Yangtze might flow for the future, and the Mississippi will always have Huck and Jim. But of all the world’s great rivers, none has perhaps played as important part in all world events as the River Thames. Forget the fact that it’s only 215 mil More...
http://miamisunpost.com/themorgue/2010.0... (p17)
If the River was History
Navigating The Thames
John Hood
Okay, the Nile might lead us back to Ancient Egypt, the Yangtze might flow for the future, and the Mississippi will always have Huck and Jim. But of all the world’s great rivers, none has perhaps played as important part in all world events as the River Thames. Forget the fact that it’s only 215 mil More...
Jul 29, 2011
Skyring
rated it: 
Thames: The Biography
by Peter Ackroyd
I ducked into a bookshop in Kings Cross Underground to get Peter Ackroyd's marvellous book London: The Biography
. I was there to check out every square on the British Monopoly board and I wanted to get my research right.
The book was a superb resource. I buried my nose into it and didn't come up for a long while. Perhaps the highlight was reading about London Stone and then seeing the actual relic of the ancient city right there on Ca More...
by Peter Ackroyd
I ducked into a bookshop in Kings Cross Underground to get Peter Ackroyd's marvellous book London: The Biography
. I was there to check out every square on the British Monopoly board and I wanted to get my research right.The book was a superb resource. I buried my nose into it and didn't come up for a long while. Perhaps the highlight was reading about London Stone and then seeing the actual relic of the ancient city right there on Ca More...
Oct 28, 2011
Pete
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Peter Ackroyd's 'Thames-Sacred River' published 2007, is a companion volume to his very much celebrated 'London:The Biography' from 2000. More than just a good read, Ackroyd has produced a wonderful and evocative masterpiece for 'Old Father Thames'. The writing is poetic, scholarly, fact packed and flows as gracefully as the river itself.
Typical of this authors work, here is a fully comprehensive biography of this 215 mile long river from Thames Head to the sea. It's history is excavat More...
Typical of this authors work, here is a fully comprehensive biography of this 215 mile long river from Thames Head to the sea. It's history is excavat More...
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Jun 07, 2009
Chris
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Ackroyd's The Thames is a love poem to the river. Instead of a linear history, which undoubtably would've made the book dull, Ackroyd sections the chapters by theme; there is a chapter on the river and death, on fishing, on wildlife and so on. This structure makes the book far more easy and interesting to read.
Ackroyd tells stories about the river, for instance a swimming race between a man and a dog; or about the wreck of the Princess Alice and the connection one of the survivor More...
Ackroyd tells stories about the river, for instance a swimming race between a man and a dog; or about the wreck of the Princess Alice and the connection one of the survivor More...
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Mar 12, 2011
Sarah
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I think it is difficult to stand on the bank of the Thames and not feel what a presence it is. I have spent hours walking along it and sitting on its shore, and I am always struck by how much history has occurred within reach of those waters.
Peter Ackroyd's The Thames: Sacred River does a terrific job capturing that immense history. Following the same format he used in his earlier biography of London, Ackroyd examines the Thames from all angles: geological, cultural, historical, and More...
Peter Ackroyd's The Thames: Sacred River does a terrific job capturing that immense history. Following the same format he used in his earlier biography of London, Ackroyd examines the Thames from all angles: geological, cultural, historical, and More...
Apr 13, 2010
Nancy
rated it:
Peter Ackroyd's Thames is a delight. Ackroyd likely could write a huge book about a paper clip and make it interesting.
He begins with describing the Thames and its connection with history as it winds through villages on its banks. He writes of its origin, size and currents and even this rather mundane information is interesting.
The influence of the Thames in defining London is examined. The river influences poets, artists and writers. It attracts pageants for kings and scav More...
He begins with describing the Thames and its connection with history as it winds through villages on its banks. He writes of its origin, size and currents and even this rather mundane information is interesting.
The influence of the Thames in defining London is examined. The river influences poets, artists and writers. It attracts pageants for kings and scav More...
Apr 08, 2011
Susan
rated it: 
The Thames has been a boundary, a highway, a frontier and an attack route; it has been a playground and a sewer, a source of water and a source of power. Archaeologists have evidence that the river has been important for transport and commerce as early as the Neolithic Age. In addition to its historical significance, the river has figured prominently in art, literature, and painting and is an essential element of the English identity and imagination. Although at times I felt it was a little to
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Feb 06, 2012
Scotty
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The version of the book I read is subtitled "The Biography", and it is certainly an apt characterization of the book. After finishing Ackroyd's journey through all facets of the river's history, significance, and even personality, you get the feeling that you know the Thames.
Although the prehistory of the river comes early and some of the more modern developments come later in the book, I would not say that it is organized chronologically. Its divisions are thematic: rive More...
Although the prehistory of the river comes early and some of the more modern developments come later in the book, I would not say that it is organized chronologically. Its divisions are thematic: rive More...
Jul 24, 2010
Diya
rated it:
I picked up The Thames: Sacred River because I'd enjoyed Ackroyd's London: The Biography so much, but this book just didn't rise to its companion's level. Though both are exhaustively researched, this history fails to weave the humanity, character, and humor of its subject into a narrative in the way London's biography did. The achronological organization of London worked well because of the pleasure of noticing how all the anecdotes fit together, like a recalled childhood. Thames's achronolo
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Aug 23, 2009
Heather
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This book is rambling and fragmented and sometimes repetitive (like when Ackroyd mentions the 5000-year-old yews at Southwark on one page … and then mentions them again on the next page, without a difference of context or the addition of any new information), but it’s full of interesting facts and historical tidbits and images.
There are some great lists or list-like sections, too, which always make me happy: there’s a whole paragraph that lists the fourteen main tributaries of the T More...
There are some great lists or list-like sections, too, which always make me happy: there’s a whole paragraph that lists the fourteen main tributaries of the T More...
Jan 14, 2009
Bruce
rated it: 
I wish I knew what went wrong with this book. I thought it would be one that I would really enjoy, the kind of quirky history that focuses on one element, and then ties everything together around that element. Also, I am a huge fan of Peter Ackroyd. He is an elegant and entertaining writer. Beginning with fiction (Chatterton, Hawksmoor, Milton in America, etc.) and then extending into history and biography (Dickens, Pound, Chaucer, London the City...) he has created a bookshelf full of well
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May 14, 2010
Steven
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I'd had this book in my list for quite some time and only recently got around to snagging a copy to read. Sometimes, when I've been meaning to read a book and it's been languishing a while, I can start to dread reading it -- almost like it's a chore. But then I start reading it and I find that interest that brought me to it in the first place, whether that was sparked by a review or a fellow reader. This is one of those cases.
What's not to like about a book that contains a chapter wh More...
What's not to like about a book that contains a chapter wh More...
Sep 20, 2010
Alex
rated it:
British author Peter Ackroyd—of London: the Biography, Shakespeare: the Biography, and numerous other works—presents the most comprehensive biography ever written on the most renowned river of all time. After reading this book, it can be said that you will know all there is to know about the river Thames. Beginning with its geology and topography, Ackroyd takes you on a full tour from wellspring to its draining into the English channel, filling your head with facts and details you’d never reall
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Aug 03, 2011
Has been very useful to me. Have been walking up the Thames to discover the source http://thameswalktothesource.blogspot.co... Have used it more like a reference book to research each stage of the walk. He has a neo-Paganistic slant on the mythology of the river. Sometimes Ackroyd selects his preferred version of history which fits in best with his poetic vision. But overall it is a poetic vision that holds together and at least does not contradict known historical facts.
Mar 13, 2009
Rob
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As one comes to expect from Peter Ackroyd, a mammoth feat of research
and scholarship. The predictably excellent London chapters are accompanied by a thematic treatment of the whole length of the river, including very strong descriptions of the byways of Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Ackroyd excels in describing the geology and zoology of the Thames, proving himself to have an extra dimension and more than just a historian. Not shy of the macabre, the book might benefit from the addition of mo More...
and scholarship. The predictably excellent London chapters are accompanied by a thematic treatment of the whole length of the river, including very strong descriptions of the byways of Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Ackroyd excels in describing the geology and zoology of the Thames, proving himself to have an extra dimension and more than just a historian. Not shy of the macabre, the book might benefit from the addition of mo More...
Aug 26, 2011
Kirk
rated it:
I enjoyed the book because the subject was new to me. The author doesn't know if he is writing a history, a travel book, or a prose poem. He fails at the latter and it blights his history and travelogue. I get really tired of his attempts to link Thames lore to classical mythology, except when he's talking about the Romans, of course. The pictures and photos are excellent. There's a case to be made that the Thames and Britain are closely linked in their history, that without the Thames, British
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Jun 19, 2011
Greg
rated it:
This was a bit of a meandering read through the history of the river. While some topics were very interesting (Mudlarks, suicides), I found myself skipping some chapters due to a lack of interest (songs of the River, healing). Ackroyd's style is much more storytelling than history, but he certainly is adept at utilizing primary sources to flavor the text, although in this book they are mostly well-known sources.
Apr 28, 2011
Krista
rated it: 
Ugh. Less a history than a listing. No footnotes. No bibliography. No depth. If I knew the details of the history of England as it relates to the Thames, maybe I would have loved this book for putting it all in one place. As it stands, I read it because I wanted to know more about the history and got merely a listing of interesting facts that that I found less than interesting because most of the time I did not have the requisite backstory to put these facts in the correct context.
Jul 24, 2011
I always enjoy Ackroyd's nonfiction work, and in this one, he puts his awesome depth of knowledge about Britain to the service of a confluence of history and geography--a paean to the central role of the Thames. Ancient gods and dunking stools, sewage and Lady Chapels, royal progresses and bridge collapses, border disputes and Saxon place name conventions...
Jul 11, 2008
Spiros
rated it:
Peter Ackroyd, Roger Angell, and Kevin Starr are my favorite non-fiction writers: all three are devoted amateurs, in the true sense of the word, being enamored of their respective subjects, and being inordinately skilled at conveying their fascination to us, the reader.
This work forms the last part of a triptych, along with LONDON: THE BIOGRAPHY and ALBION, which explore, in exhaustive detail and much digression, the streams of English literary and artistic genius. As befits a riparian nar More...
This work forms the last part of a triptych, along with LONDON: THE BIOGRAPHY and ALBION, which explore, in exhaustive detail and much digression, the streams of English literary and artistic genius. As befits a riparian nar More...
Jan 08, 2009
Bookmarks Magazine
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Peter Ackroyd can easily be forgiven his exaggeration in claiming that the Thames is more famous than the Amazon or the Mississippi. His gift for storytelling and lovely prose make Thames a rewarding read. Several critics thought the narrative structure should have flowed steadily from Point A to Point B instead of meandering, like the river itself, across space and time. They also bemoaned the long lists, generalizations, and repeated attempts to endow the river with spiritual significance. Des
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Jul 20, 2010
Brynn
rated it:
When Ackroyd tackles people, his biographies are utterly engrossing. Wider topics (river, cities) tend to exacerbate his tendency to meander with little thought to relevance or coherence. This book also suffers from his tendency to elevate anything British beyond all reason.
Mar 10, 2008
Rachel
rated it:
Finally finished this one after reading it for most of the year. Have read a chapter a night, because there's just so much information to take in.
Ackroyd takes the reader on a long meander along London's river from source to Sea, taking in anecdotes, historical fact, fiction art, life and death along the way. Beautifully written and fantastically researched as with all his books and probably best read as a companion guide to Ackroyd's earlier bestseller "London: the Biograph More...
Ackroyd takes the reader on a long meander along London's river from source to Sea, taking in anecdotes, historical fact, fiction art, life and death along the way. Beautifully written and fantastically researched as with all his books and probably best read as a companion guide to Ackroyd's earlier bestseller "London: the Biograph More...
Sep 24, 2011
Brianleedurfee
rated it:
#39 THAMES: A Biography by Peter Ackroyd: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Everything you wanted to know about the river Themes. The exciting part of the story is when the Themes makes its lazy way through London...well, exciting for doods like me i supose
Dec 28, 2007
Jennifer (JC-S)
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book. I meandered around the river, acquiring new knowledge and new perspectives and thoroughly enjoyed the prose.
The book is not perfect: I think some judicious editing would have been useful. In one part, it reads as though Claudius was in Briatin only a decade or so after Julius Caesar whereas by my rough estimation it must have been almost 90 years later.
Yes, if I could have given the book 4.5 stars I would have done so. But somehow, less than More...
The book is not perfect: I think some judicious editing would have been useful. In one part, it reads as though Claudius was in Briatin only a decade or so after Julius Caesar whereas by my rough estimation it must have been almost 90 years later.
Yes, if I could have given the book 4.5 stars I would have done so. But somehow, less than More...
Aug 17, 2011
Christopher
rated it:
One in maybe ten pages was really interesting. The rest were less interesting. With four hundred forty pages that makes about forty interesting pages. There should have been more of one or less of the other.
Dec 11, 2010
Coren
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Clever concept brilliantly executed. I spent many years living by the Thames and I learned things in this book I had never known.
Dec 10, 2010
Sandyboy
rated it:
amusing but impossible to read you have to just dip and go - in other words it is a bathroom book
Apr 16, 2009
Eve
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I really enjoyed this one. It is chucked full of information though so I think it is one of those books you take the time to savor and let it all sink in. I enjoyed how the chapters were broken up to cover things like art, writing, myths, all connected to the river and really enjoyed the photos sprinkled in. I will definitely be seeking out more from this author!
