New Releases by Peter Ackroyd

From celebrated historian and writer Peter Ackroyd, a magisterial portrayal of English Christianity over the centuries. This book portrays the spirit and nature of English Christianity, as it has developed over the last fourteen hundred years. During this time, Christianity has been the predominant faith of the people and the reflection of the English soul. This fascinating new history is an account of the Christian English soul, which recognizes the fact that Christianity has been the anchoring and defining doctrine of England while accepting respectfully that other powerful and significant faiths have influenced the religious sensibility of this nation. Peter Ackroyd surveys the lives and faith of the most important figures of English Christianity from the Venerable Bede to C. S. Lewis, exploring the mysticism of Julian of Norwich and William Blake; the tumultuous years of the Reformation; the emergence of the English bible; the evangelical tradition, including John Wesley; and the contemporary contest between tradition, revival, and atheism. This is an essential, comprehensive, and accessible survey of English Christianity.

Now in paperback, from a leading historian and writer, a delightful exploration of the great English tradition of treading the boards. The English Actor charts the uniquely English approach to stagecraft, from the medieval period to the present day. In thirty chapters, Peter Ackroyd describes, with superb narrative skill, the genesis of acting—deriving from the Church tradition of Mystery Plays—through the flourishing of the craft in the Renaissance, to modern methods following the advent of film and television. Across centuries and media, The English Actor also explores the biographies of the most notable and celebrated British actors. From the first woman actor on the English stage, Margaret Hughes, who played Desdemona in 1660; to luminaries like Laurence Olivier, Peter O’Toole, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and Helen Mirren; to contemporary multihyphenates like Gary Oldman, Kenneth Branagh, Sophie Okonedo, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ackroyd gives all fans of the theater an original and superbly entertaining appraisal of how actors have acted, how audiences have responded, and what we mean by the magic of the stage.

In Colors of London, Peter Ackroyd tells the history of London through the lens of color—with specially commissioned colorised photographs from Dynamichrome that bring a lost London back to life.

Die großartig erzählte Biografie eines einmaligen Sehnsuchtsorts Alles an Venedig ist einmalig: die Lage, die Geschichte, die Bedeutung. Peter Ackroyd, der vielfach ausgezeichnete britische Schriftsteller, greift in seiner großartigen Biografie die mit dieser Stadt verbundenen Bilder und Emotionen auf und unterlegt sie mit zahllosen Fakten und überraschenden Informationen. Dabei spannt er den Bogen über sechzehn Jahrhunderte, von den ersten Bewohnern, die in der Lagune Zuflucht suchten, bis zu den Touristenströmen, die heute die Stadt überfluten. Alle beschwört er herauf: die Händler im Rialto, die Glasbläser von Murano, die großen Malerfürsten, mächtige Dogen. Kenntnisreich, die großen Zusammenhänge im Blick und verliebt ins Detail – Ackroyds überwältigende Stadtbiografie ist ein Muss für jeden, der Venedig kennt oder neu kennenlernen will.

Celebrated novelist, biographer and critic Peter Ackroyd paints a vivid picture of one of the world''s greatest cities in this brilliant and original work, exploring how the city''s many hues have come to shape its history and identity. Think of the colours of London and what do you imagine? The reds of open-top buses and terracotta bricks? The grey smog of Victorian industry, Portland stone and pigeons in Trafalgar square? Or the gradations of yellows, violets and blues that shimmer on the Thames at sunset – reflecting the incandescent light of a city that never truly goes dark? We associate green with royal parks and the District Line; gold with royal carriages, the Golden Lane Estate, and the tops of monuments and cathedrals. Colours of London shows us that colour is everywhere in the city, and each one holds myriad links to its past. The colours of London have inspired artists (Whistler, Van Gogh, Turner, Monet), designers (Harry Beck) and social reformers (Charles Booth). And from the city’s first origins, Ackroyd shows how colour is always to be found at the heart of London’s history, from the blazing reds of the Great Fire of London to the blackouts of the Blitz to the bold colours of royal celebrations and vibrant street life. This beautifully written book examines the city''s fascinating relationship with colour, alongside specially commissioned colourised photographs from Dynamichrome, which bring a lost London back to life. London has been the main character in Ackroyd''s work ever since his first novel, and he has won countless prizes in both fiction and non-fiction for his truly remarkable body of work. Here, he channels a lifetime of knowledge of the great city, writing with clarity and passion about the hues and shades which have shaped London''s journey through history into the present day. A truly invaluable book for lovers of art, history, photography or urban geography, this beautifully illustrated title tells a rich and fascinating story of the history of this great and ever-changing city.

Historia de la homosexualidad, de los romanos a nuestros días. Con ilustraciones en b/n. No hay nadie que sepa tanto sobre Londres como Peter Ackroyd. En ningún sentido. Y ahora, con Londres Gay, ha observado la metrópolis de una manera completamente nueva: a través de la historia y las experiencias de su población homosexual. En el Londinium romano, el pene era adorado y la homosexualidad se consideraba admirable. La ciudad estaba salpicada de Lupanarias (''casas de lobos'' o casas de placer públicas), fornices (burdeles) y thermiae (baños calientes). Siglos más tarde, el emperador Constantino, con sus obispos y clérigos, monjes y misioneros, promulgó las primeras leyes contra las prácticas homosexuales. Lo que siguió fue un ciclo interminable de permisividad y censura alternas, desde los notorios normandos, cuyo poder militar dependía de la lealtad masculina, hasta el travestismo de moda de la década de 1620, pasando por el frenesí de ejecuciones por sodomía a principios del siglo XIX y la "plaga gay" de los años ochenta del pasado siglo XX. Ackroyd nos lleva directamente a esta ciudad escondida, celebrando su diversidad, emociones y energía por un lado; pero nos recuerda sus terrores reales, peligros y riesgos por el otro. En una ciudad de superlativos, es tal vez esta fluidez sexual sin fin y la capacidad de recuperación lo que personifican el verdadero triunfo de Londres.

The Canterbury Tales is a major part of England''s literary heritage. From the exuberant Wife of Bath''s Arthurian legend to the Miller''s worldly, ribald farce, these tales can be taken as a mirror of fourteenth-century London. Incorporating every style of medieval narrative - bawdy anecdote, allegorical fable and courtly romance - the tales encompass a blend of universal human themes. Ackroyd''s retelling is a highly readable, prose version in modern English, using expletive and avoiding euphemism, making the Tales much more accessible to a new generation of readers. The edition also includes an introduction by Ackroyd, detailing some of the historical background to Chaucer and the Tales, and why he has been inspired to translate them for a new generation of readers.

Uncover the intricate past of England in Peter Ackroyd''s acclaimed volume, Dominion, a crucial part of his sweeping History of England series. This charismatic narrative opens with the aftermath of Waterloo in 1815 and concludes with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. Ackroyd masterfully recounts the era of George IV, whose rule witnessed staunch resistance to reform, and that of ''Sailor King'' William IV, an epoch which marked significant modernisation and the abolition of slavery. When eighteen-year-old Queen Victoria''s took the throne, a period of astonishing technological breakthroughs and innovation – such as steam railways and the telegraph. Yet, beneath the progress, Ackroyd unflinchingly reveals the harsh reality of the ordinary working classes mired in poverty whilst the industrial revolution flourishes around them. It was a time that saw a flowering of great literature, too. As the Georgian era gave way to that of Victoria, readers could delight not only in the work of Byron, Shelley and Wordsworth but also the great nineteenth-century novelists: the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Mrs Gaskell, Thackeray, and, of course, Dickens, whose work has become synonymous with Victorian England. Finally, Ackroyd illustrates the British Empire''s global expansion, reflecting Britannia''s iron rule over the waves, the shockwaves of which are still felt today.

Londres, 1880. Dans le quartier de Limehouse, qui jouxte Whitechapel, où sévira quelques années plus tard Jack l''éventreur, des prostituées sont sauvagement assassinées. Le film adapté du roman sort simultanément en France. Londres, 1880. Huit ans avant que Jack l''E ventreur sé visse à Whitechapel, la peur avait un autre nom...Alors que les corps de deux prostituées ont été dé couverts dans le quartier voisin de Limehouse, la rumeur se ré pand qu''un Golem, figure mythique de la tradition hébraïque, erre dans les rues de la ville en quê te de nouvelles victimes.Ce qui n''empêche pas une troupe de thé a tre de continuer à se produire dans les cabarets. Parmi les comé diens, Elizabeth et Dan Leno, adepte du travestissement.Lors d''un spectacle, John Cree, bourgeois é rudit et é crivain insatisfait, tombe sous le charme d''Elizabeth, qu''il épouse. Quelque temps plus tard, on retrouve le corps sans vie de John. Son journal intime révè le qu''il serait le mystérieux Golem. Mais sa femme semble, elle aussi, dissimuler bien des secrets...Ce roman a été adapté à l''écran par le ré alisateur Juan Carlos Medina, avec Olivia Cooke et Bill Nighy. Un film qui a reç u le Prix du jury du festival du film policier de Beaune en mars 2017.

First published in Great Britain by Macmillan as a set, complete in 6 volumes, under the common title The history of England. Revolution is volume 4.

Alfred Hitchcock rigorously controlled his public image, drawing certain carefully selected childhood anecdotes into full focus and blurring out all others. In this gripping short biography, Peter Ackroyd wrests the director’s chair back from the master of control to reveal a lugubriously jolly man fond of practical jokes, who smashed a once-used tea cup every morning to remind himself of the frailty of life. Iconic film stars make cameo appearances throughout Hitchcock’s story, just as the director did in his own films: Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, James Stewart and, perhaps most famously of all, Tippi Hedren, who endures cuts and bruises from a fearsome flock of real birds. Perceptive and intelligent, Alfred Hitchcock is a fascinating look at one of the most revered directors of the twentieth century.

A Vintage Shorts Travel Selection Peter Ackroyd’s staggering and prodigious capstone accomplishment, London: A Biography, details the history and—perhaps most ardently—the tenor of his hometown with indelible care. From the Iron Age to present day, Ackroyd’s narrative sweeps through the centuries with an effortless immediacy, bringing the city to life. In this selection, the bestselling and award-winning author delivers a resonant account of the raids on London during the Second World War. Bombs and fires flare, naturally, but it is Ackroyd’s esteem of Londoners themselves that endows this story with energy: “It was the invisible and intangible spirit or presence of London that survived, and somehow flourished, in [this] period of devastation.” A rich, immersive plunge into some of London''s darkest days. An eBook Short.

A gripping short biography of the extraordinary Wilkie Collins, author of The Moonstone and The Woman in White, two early masterpieces of mystery and detection. Short and oddly built, with a head too big for his body, extremely nearsighted, unable to stay still, dressed in colorful clothes, Wilkie Collins looked distinctly strange. But he was nonetheless a charmer, befriended by the great, loved by children, irresistibly attractive to women—and avidly read by generations of readers. Peter Ackroyd follows his hero, "the sweetest-tempered of all the Victorian novelists," from Collins'' childhood as the son of a well-known artist to his struggling beginnings as a writer, his years of fame, and his lifelong friendship with that other great London chronicler, Charles Dickens. In addition to his enduring masterpieces, The Moonstone—often called the first true detective novel—and the sensational The Woman in White, he produced an intriguing array of lesser known works. Told with Ackroyd''s inimitable verve, this is a ravishingly entertaining life of a great storyteller, full of surprises, rich in humor and sympathetic understanding.

In Civil War, Peter Ackroyd continues his dazzling account of England''s history, beginning with the progress south of the Scottish king, James VI, who on the death of Elizabeth I became the first Stuart king of England, and ends with the deposition and flight into exile of his grandson, James II. The Stuart dynasty brought together the two nations of England and Scotland into one realm, albeit a realm still marked by political divisions that echo to this day. More importantly, perhaps, the Stuart era was marked by the cruel depredations of civil war, and the killing of a king. Ackroyd paints a vivid portrait of James I and his heirs. Shrewd and opinionated, the new King was eloquent on matters as diverse as theology, witchcraft and the abuses of tobacco, but his attitude to the English parliament sowed the seeds of the division that would split the country in the reign of his hapless heir, Charles I. Ackroyd offers a brilliant - warts and all - portrayal of Charles''s nemesis Oliver Cromwell, Parliament''s great military leader and England''s only dictator, who began his career as a political liberator but ended it as much of a despot as ''that man of blood'', the king he executed. England''s turbulent seventeenth century is vividly laid out before us, but so too is the cultural and social life of the period, notable for its extraordinarily rich literature, including Shakespeare''s late masterpieces, Jacobean tragedy, the poetry of John Donne and Milton and Thomas Hobbes'' great philosophical treatise, Leviathan. Civil War also gives us a very real sense of the lives of ordinary English men and women, lived out against a backdrop of constant disruption and uncertainty. PRAISE FOR THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND SERIES "Ackroyd''s trademark insight and wit, and the glorious interconnectedness of all things, permeate each page"Observer "Ackroyd writes with such lightly worn erudition and a deceptive ease that he never fails to engage" Daily Telegraph "In pages of limpid detail, Ackroyd makes history accessible to the layman" Ian Thomson, Independent

In Civil War, Peter Ackroyd continues his dazzling account of England''s history, beginning with the progress south of the Scottish king, James VI, who on the death of Elizabeth I became the first Stuart king of England, and ends with the deposition and flight into exile of his grandson, James II. The Stuart dynasty brought together the two nations of England and Scotland into one realm, albeit a realm still marked by political divisions that echo to this day. More importantly, perhaps, the Stuart era was marked by the cruel depredations of civil war, and the killing of a king. Ackroyd paints a vivid portrait of James I and his heirs. Shrewd and opinionated, the new King was eloquent on matters as diverse as theology, witchcraft and the abuses of tobacco, but his attitude to the English parliament sowed the seeds of the division that would split the country in the reign of his hapless heir, Charles I. Ackroyd offers a brilliant - warts and all - portrayal of Charles''s nemesis Oliver Cromwell, Parliament''s great military leader and England''s only dictator, who began his career as a political liberator but ended it as much of a despot as ''that man of blood'', the king he executed.England''s turbulent seventeenth century is vividly laid out before us, but so too is the cultural and social life of the period, notable for its extraordinarily rich literature, including Shakespeare''s late masterpieces, Jacobean tragedy, the poetry of John Donne and Milton and Thomas Hobbes'' great philosophical treatise, Leviathan. Civil War also gives us a very real sense of the lives of ordinary English men and women, lived out against a backdrop of constant disruption and uncertainty.

Rapier-sharp, witty, intriguing, and mysterious: a new novel from Peter Ackroyd set in the London of the 1960s. Three Brothers follows the fortunes of Harry, Daniel, and Sam Hanway, a trio of brothers born on a postwar council estate in Camden Town. Marked from the start by curious coincidence, each boy is forced to make his own way in the world—a world of dodgy deals and big business, of criminal gangs and crooked landlords, of newspaper magnates, backbiters, and petty thieves. London is the backdrop and the connecting fabric of these three lives, reinforcing Ackroyd''s grand theme that place and history create, surround and engulf us. From bustling, cut-throat Fleet Street to hallowed London publishing houses, from the wealth and corruption of Chelsea to the smoky shadows of Limehouse and Hackney, this is an exploration of the city, peering down its streets, riding on its underground, and drinking in its pubs and clubs. Everything is possible—not only in the new freedom of the 1960s but also in London''s timeless past.

Peter Ackroyd, one of Britain''s most acclaimed writers, brings the age of the Tudors to vivid life in this monumental book in his The History of England series, charting the course of English history from Henry VIII''s cataclysmic break with Rome to the epic rule of Elizabeth I. Rich in detail and atmosphere, Peter Ackroyd''s Tudors is the story of Henry VIII''s relentless pursuit of both the perfect wife and the perfect heir; of how the brief reign of the teenage king, Edward VI, gave way to the violent reimposition of Catholicism and the stench of bonfires under "Bloody Mary." It tells, too, of the long reign of Elizabeth I, which, though marked by civil strife, plots against the queen and even an invasion force, finally brought stability. Above all, however, it is the story of the English Reformation and the making of the Anglican Church. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, England was still largely feudal and looked to Rome for direction; at its end, it was a country where good governance was the duty of the state, not the church, and where men and women began to look to themselves for answers rather than to those who ruled them.

Poète maudit, certes Edgar Poe le fut, il en est même devenu l''archétype. Mais, même s''il fut piètre homme daffaires et ne gagna que quelques dollars pour toute son œuvre, il n''a pas connu que des échecs, loin de là : son poème Le Corbeau en fit une star et il était l''un des journalistes américains les plus connus de son époque. Conscient de son pouvoir en tant que tel, il fut un critique assassin. Mais aussi plaisantin, précurseur d''Orson Welles dans le domaine du canular journalistique autant que de Conan Doyle ou de Jules Verne dans ceux du roman policier et de la science-fiction. Novateur des lettres américaines, il fut reconnu comme tel par certains, même s''il resta incompris par une majorité. Son drame fut sans doute d''avoir été célébré pour ceux de ses écrits qu''il méprisait. Quant à ses échecs amoureux, les a-t-il subis ou suscités ? Sous le scalpel net et précis de Peter Ackroyd, se dessine le parcours tout en dents de scie d''un personnage extravagant, orphelin charmant, jeune homme athlétique épris de mots, mal aimé ou se croyant tel, très vite gros buveur, bientôt marié à une nymphette phtisique, chaste coureur, dépendant d''une belle-mère hommasse, nécrophile en quête toute sa vie d''une figure féminine exsangue, pour lui le plus beau sujet du monde et qu''il transforme en spectre dans ses contes. Une vie brève mais aux résonances infinies, une biographie qu''on aurait pu titrer " Anatomie d''un impossible génie ".

The first book in Peter Ackroyd''s history of England series, which has since been followed up with two more installments, Tudors and Rebellion. In Foundation, the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England''s prehistory to the death, in 1509, of the first Tudor king, Henry VII. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country''s most distant past--a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house--and describes in rich prose the successive waves of invaders who made England English, despite being themselves Roman, Viking, Saxon, or Norman French. With his extraordinary skill for evoking time and place and his acute eye for the telling detail, Ackroyd recounts the story of warring kings, of civil strife, and foreign wars. But he also gives us a vivid sense of how England''s early people lived: the homes they built, the clothes the wore, the food they ate, even the jokes they told. All are brought vividly to life in this history of England through the narrative mastery of one of Britain''s finest writers.

Rich in detail and atmosphere and told in vivid prose, Tudors recounts the transformation of England from a settled Catholic country to a Protestant superpower. It is the story of Henry VIII''s cataclysmic break with Rome, and his relentless pursuit of both the perfect wife and the perfect heir; of how the brief reign of the teenage king, Edward VI, gave way to the violent reimposition of Catholicism and the stench of bonfires under "Bloody Mary". It tells, too, of the long reign of Elizabeth I, which, though marked by civil strife, plots against the queen and even an invasion force, finally brought stability. Above all, however, it is the story of the English Reformation and the making of the Anglican Church. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, England was still largely feudal and looked to Rome for direction; at its end, it was a country where good governance was the duty of the state, not the church, and where men and women began to look to themselves for answers rather than to those who ruled them. PRAISE FOR THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND SERIES "Ackroyd''s trademark insight and wit, and the glorious interconnectedness of all things, permeate each page"Observer "Ackroyd writes with such lightly worn erudition and a deceptive ease that he never fails to engage" Daily Telegraph "In pages of limpid detail, Ackroyd makes history accessible to the layman" Ian Thomson, Independent

Desde su creación en el siglo I, tras la conquista romana de Britania, Londinium ha sido un enclave fundamental para el desarrollo económico, político y cultural de Occidente, auténtico crisol de culturas, y con el paso de los años ha sabido crear una rica mitología propia que ha marcado profundamente a sus habitantes. Peter Ackroyd, uno de los mayores apasionados de Londres, ha reconstruido magistralmente este proceso y logra transmitir a sus lectores una genuina e intensa pasión por esa metrópoli. A través de un sorprendente recorrido por su historia, que no rehuye los episodios más negros, los barrios más peligrosos ni los aspectos más sombríos y menos conocidos, Ackroyd se sirve de su brillante prosa para arrojar luz sobre una ciudad caracterizada por la bruma y para mostrarnos hasta sus más peculiares detalles, lo que Unamuno llamaría su intrahistoria. Una auténtica obra maestra, cuya originalidad hace imposible clasificarla en los géneros al uso. Pero que demuestra, sin duda alguna, que Londres siempre ha sido una ciudad muy viva.

When Peter Ackroyd, one of Britain''s undisputed literary masters, writes a new novel, it is a literary event. With his last novel, The Trial of Elizabeth Cree, "as gripping and ingenious a murder mystery as you could hope to come across," in the words of the San Francisco Chronicle, he reached a whole new level of critical and popular success. Now, with his trademark blending of historical fact and fictive fancy, Ackroyd has placed the towering poet of Paradise Lost in the new Eden that is colonial America. John Milton, aging, blind, fleeing the restoration of English monarchy and all the vain trappings that go with it ("misrule" in his estimation), comes to New England, where he is adopted by a community of fellow puritans as their leader. With his enormous powers of intellect, his command of language, and the awe the townspeople hold him in, Milton takes on absolute power. Insisting on strict and merciless application of puritan justice, he soon becomes, in his attempt at regaining paradise, as much a tyrant as the despots from whom he and his comrades have sought refuge, more brutal than the "savage" native Americans. As always, Ackroyd has crafted a thoroughly enjoyable novel that entertains while raising provocative questions--this time about America''s founding myths. With a resurgence of interest in the puritans (in the movie adaptations of The Scarlet Letter and the forthcoming The Crucible), Milton in America is particularly relevant. It is also entirely absorbing--in short, vintage Ackroyd.

Rich in detail and atmosphere and told in vivid prose, Tudors recounts the transformation of England from a settled Catholic country to a Protestant superpower. It is the story of Henry VIII''s cataclysmic break with Rome, and his relentless pursuit of both the perfect wife and the perfect heir; of how the brief reign of the teenage king, Edward VI, gave way to the violent reimposition of Catholicism and the stench of bonfires under ''Bloody Mary''. It tells, too, of the long reign of Elizabeth I, which, though marked by civil strife, plots against the queen and even an invasion force, finally brought stability. Above all, however, it is the story of the English Reformation and the making of the Anglican Church. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, England was still largely feudal and looked to Rome for direction; at its end, it was a country where good governance was the duty of the state, not the church, and where men and women began to look to themselves for answers rather than to those who ruled them.

In this vividly descriptive short study, Peter Ackroyd tunnels down through the geological layers of London, meeting the creatures that dwell in darkness and excavating the lore and mythology beneath the surface. There is a Bronze Age trackway below the Isle of Dogs, Anglo-Saxon graves rest under St. Pauls, and the monastery of Whitefriars lies beneath Fleet Street. To go under London is to penetrate history, and Ackroyd''s book is filled with the stories unique to this underworld: the hydraulic device used to lower bodies into the catacombs in Kensal Green cemetery; the door in the plinth of the statue of Boadicea on Westminster Bridge that leads to a huge tunnel packed with cables for gas, water, and telephone; the sulphurous fumes on the Underground''s Metropolitan Line. Highly imaginative and delightfully entertaining, London Under is Ackroyd at his best.

An immortal story of love, adventure, chivalry, treachery and death brought to new life for our times. The legend of King Arthur has retained its appeal and popularity through the ages - Mordred''s treason, the knightly exploits of Tristan, Lancelot''s fatally divided loyalties and his love for Guenever, the quest for the Holy Grail.

Gothic, mysterious, theatrical, fatally flawed, and dazzling, the life of Edgar Allan Poe, one of America’s greatest and most versatile writers, is the ideal subject for Peter Ackroyd. Poe wrote lyrical poetry and macabre psychological melodramas; invented the first fictional detective; and produced pioneering works of science fiction and fantasy. His innovative style, images, and themes had a tremendous impact on European romanticism, symbolism, and surrealism, and continue to influence writers today. In this essential addition to his canon of acclaimed biographies, Peter Ackroyd explores Poe’s literary accomplishments and legacy against the background of his erratic, dramatic, and sometimes sordid life. Ackroyd chronicles Poe’s difficult childhood, his bumpy academic and military careers, and his complex relationships with women, including his marriage to his thirteen-year-old cousin. He describes Poe’s much-written-about problems with gambling and alcohol with sympathy and insight, showing their connections to Poe’s childhood and the trials, as well as the triumphs, of his adult life. Ackroyd’s thoughtful, perceptive examinations of some of Poe’s most famous works shed new light on these classics and on the troubled and brilliant genius who created them.

A prose translation of the classic 14th-century poem seeks to retain Chaucer''s vigorous and bawdy style while rendering its contents more accessible to modern readers, in a version that places an emphasis on the humanity of key characters.