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Voyages Through Time
Escape from Earth: Voyages Through Time
As soon as humankind had conquered the Earth, the race to explore the final frontier began. Space has always held a unique fascination for humans and, during the 20th century, it finally became possible for us to look beyond our planet for the first time. This book tells the incredible story of our journey into space. With illustrated pages, information boxes and reference sections that complement the narrative, you will meet pioneering scientists and brave astronauts, discover extraordinary technology and explore amazing landscapes. Your imagination will soar above the familiar world and voyage into the unknown, where you will catch a glimpse of the most spectacular sight of all - the future.
- GenresScience
144 pages, Hardcover
First published February 2, 2004
About the author
Peter Ackroyd
201 books1,531 followersPeter Ackroyd CBE is an English novelist and biographer with a particular interest in the history and culture of London.
Peter Ackroyd's mother worked in the personnel department of an engineering firm, his father having left the family home when Ackroyd was a baby. He was reading newspapers by the age of 5 and, at 9, wrote a play about Guy Fawkes. Reputedly, he first realized he was gay at the age of 7.
Ackroyd was educated at St. Benedict's, Ealing and at Clare College, Cambridge, from which he graduated with a double first in English. In 1972, he was a Mellon Fellow at Yale University in the United States. The result of this fellowship was Ackroyd's Notes for a New Culture, written when he was only 22 and eventually published in 1976. The title, a playful echo of T. S. Eliot's Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948), was an early indication of Ackroyd's penchant for creatively exploring and reexamining the works of other London-based writers.
Ackroyd's literary career began with poetry, including such works as London Lickpenny (1973) and The Diversions of Purley (1987). He later moved into fiction and has become an acclaimed author, winning the 1998 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for the biography Thomas More and being shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1987.
Ackroyd worked at The Spectator magazine between 1973 and 1977 and became joint managing editor in 1978. In 1982 he published The Great Fire of London, his first novel. This novel deals with one of Ackroyd's great heroes, Charles Dickens, and is a reworking of Little Dorrit. The novel set the stage for the long sequence of novels Ackroyd has produced since, all of which deal in some way with the complex interaction of time and space, and what Ackroyd calls "the spirit of place". It is also the first in a sequence of novels of London, through which he traces the changing, but curiously consistent nature of the city. Often this theme is explored through the city's artists, and especially its writers.
Ackroyd has always shown a great interest in the city of London, and one of his best known works, London: The Biography, is an extensive and thorough discussion of London through the ages.
His fascination with London literary and artistic figures is also displayed in the sequence of biographies he has produced of Ezra Pound (1980), T. S. Eliot (1984), Charles Dickens (1990), William Blake (1995), Thomas More (1998), Chaucer (2004), William Shakespeare (2005), and J. M. W. Turner. The city itself stands astride all these works, as it does in the fiction.
From 2003 to 2005, Ackroyd wrote a six-book non-fiction series (Voyages Through Time), intended for readers as young as eight. This was his first work for children. The critically acclaimed series is an extensive narrative of key periods in world history.
Early in his career, Ackroyd was nominated a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1984 and, as well as producing fiction, biography and other literary works, is also a regular radio and television broadcaster and book critic.
In the New Year's honours list of 2003, Ackroyd was awarded the CBE.
Peter Ackroyd's mother worked in the personnel department of an engineering firm, his father having left the family home when Ackroyd was a baby. He was reading newspapers by the age of 5 and, at 9, wrote a play about Guy Fawkes. Reputedly, he first realized he was gay at the age of 7.
Ackroyd was educated at St. Benedict's, Ealing and at Clare College, Cambridge, from which he graduated with a double first in English. In 1972, he was a Mellon Fellow at Yale University in the United States. The result of this fellowship was Ackroyd's Notes for a New Culture, written when he was only 22 and eventually published in 1976. The title, a playful echo of T. S. Eliot's Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948), was an early indication of Ackroyd's penchant for creatively exploring and reexamining the works of other London-based writers.
Ackroyd's literary career began with poetry, including such works as London Lickpenny (1973) and The Diversions of Purley (1987). He later moved into fiction and has become an acclaimed author, winning the 1998 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for the biography Thomas More and being shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1987.
Ackroyd worked at The Spectator magazine between 1973 and 1977 and became joint managing editor in 1978. In 1982 he published The Great Fire of London, his first novel. This novel deals with one of Ackroyd's great heroes, Charles Dickens, and is a reworking of Little Dorrit. The novel set the stage for the long sequence of novels Ackroyd has produced since, all of which deal in some way with the complex interaction of time and space, and what Ackroyd calls "the spirit of place". It is also the first in a sequence of novels of London, through which he traces the changing, but curiously consistent nature of the city. Often this theme is explored through the city's artists, and especially its writers.
Ackroyd has always shown a great interest in the city of London, and one of his best known works, London: The Biography, is an extensive and thorough discussion of London through the ages.
His fascination with London literary and artistic figures is also displayed in the sequence of biographies he has produced of Ezra Pound (1980), T. S. Eliot (1984), Charles Dickens (1990), William Blake (1995), Thomas More (1998), Chaucer (2004), William Shakespeare (2005), and J. M. W. Turner. The city itself stands astride all these works, as it does in the fiction.
From 2003 to 2005, Ackroyd wrote a six-book non-fiction series (Voyages Through Time), intended for readers as young as eight. This was his first work for children. The critically acclaimed series is an extensive narrative of key periods in world history.
Early in his career, Ackroyd was nominated a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1984 and, as well as producing fiction, biography and other literary works, is also a regular radio and television broadcaster and book critic.
In the New Year's honours list of 2003, Ackroyd was awarded the CBE.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 16, 2012
Dorian Kinderly produces excellent non-fiction, informational types of books.
Escape from Earth, by Peter Ackroyd (2003, Dorian Kinderly, UK) p.141
Junior book, non-fiction
Summary: An informational book about space. From Jules Verne to space stations this book explores space from the beginning of rockets to the present. This rendition is pretty accurate and informational. The pictures are great also.
a) accuracy
b) I am a veteran of the Air Force and I used to work around missiles, from the review of this book I can tell you that the information contained within this book is accurate. The picture of the P18-Hornet breaking the sound barrier is also accurate. The images on each page are very good and help to provide visual stimulation as the reader progresses through the pages..
c) The P18-Hornet breaking the sound barrier is on two pages, p.7 and 17. Page 55 shows and explains the different stages of Saturn V. Page 65 shows a picture of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, there are more pictures as there are many on every page. Many boys who do not really like to read love Dorian Kinderly books.
Curriculum Connection: Science; chemistry, physics, geology, biology. Social Studies: history
Escape from Earth, by Peter Ackroyd (2003, Dorian Kinderly, UK) p.141
Junior book, non-fiction
Summary: An informational book about space. From Jules Verne to space stations this book explores space from the beginning of rockets to the present. This rendition is pretty accurate and informational. The pictures are great also.
a) accuracy
b) I am a veteran of the Air Force and I used to work around missiles, from the review of this book I can tell you that the information contained within this book is accurate. The picture of the P18-Hornet breaking the sound barrier is also accurate. The images on each page are very good and help to provide visual stimulation as the reader progresses through the pages..
c) The P18-Hornet breaking the sound barrier is on two pages, p.7 and 17. Page 55 shows and explains the different stages of Saturn V. Page 65 shows a picture of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, there are more pictures as there are many on every page. Many boys who do not really like to read love Dorian Kinderly books.
Curriculum Connection: Science; chemistry, physics, geology, biology. Social Studies: history
December 1, 2014
The accurately named, Escape from Earth: Voyages Through Time, is an out of this world informational text that is sure to please any space geek, science fanatic, or history buff. A quote from Jules Verne starts us off on a thrilling adventure through time and space beginning in the early 1900s as we see the first rockets being built to the here and now space exploration to what the future looks in the great unknown. It covers everything from the great space race between the U.S. and the Soviets, the moon landing, countless other missions in space and the presidents and people who made it all possible. Also included in this text are vivid and enchanting pictures our universe, timelines, and inserts filled with additional facts describing the event or background on the photographs. A reference section is also included, giving the reader the opportunity to take a closer look at the achievements of Space missions, satellites, and shuttles and when they took place as well as the technology behind space craft and facts about the planets. A helpful Glossary is included to assist the reader in deciphering some of the text.
Over all a great read best for kids ages 8 and up.
Over all a great read best for kids ages 8 and up.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews