About this title: Ackroyd writes about connections between the Thames and such historical figures as Julius Caesar and Henry VIII, and offers memorable portraits of the ordinary men and women who depend on the river for their livelihoods. Illustrated with maps and photographs.
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Date Published: 2008-11-04
ISBN-13:9780385526234ISBN:0385526237
Description: Very Good. Save some $$$. Perfectly Good Reading Copy. Shelfwear from storage in box with other books. This is a paperback with same cover and publisher stickers. This book is the same isbn, but is a paperback. Great Copy. Ships Lightning Fast. read more
Description: New. 0385526237 Dust Jacket has very little shelf wear. No remainder mark. Pages are clean with no markings, no creases and no dog-ears. Hardcover. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Nan a Talese
Date Published: 2008-11-04
ISBN-13:9780385526234ISBN:0385526237
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780385526234. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780385526234ISBN:0385526237
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: First Edition; First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780385526234ISBN:0385526237
Description: New in New dust jacket. 9780385526234. New first edition, first printing hardcover and dust jacket in very fine condition. Protective mylar cover.; 1.42 x 9.37 x 6.38 Inches. read more
Edition: First Edition; First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780385526234ISBN:0385526237
Description: New in New dust jacket. 9780385526234. New first edition, first printing hardcover and dust jacket in very fine condition. Protective mylar cover.; 1.42 x 9.37 x 6.38 Inches. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Inc
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780307389848ISBN:0307389847
Description: New. In this perfect companion to "London: The Biography, " Peter Ackroyd once again delves into the hidden byways of history, describing the river's endless allure in a journey overflowing with characters, incidents, and wry observations. Thames: The Biog... read more
"Ackroyd generally writes well. I've enjoyed immensely his biography of Shakespeare, and his odd little book Albion (an ancient word for England). He can be erudite without being stuffy. Usually. In this one, he writes like an author in search of a topic, and tosses new words about, like flotsam and jetsam in the the riverine landscape. (There. I did it myself. I've taken to circling every use of the word "riverine" that I find!) Nonetheless, very informative, and at times brilliant. I've learned quite a bit about the river and environs. Did you know the Thames used to freeze over regularly? Or that one yew near Runnymede (think "Magna Carta")may be more than 2,000 years old?
I'd recommend it. Informative, somewhat stilted (which is fun in its own right), and over all enjoyable."
"I love this writer--- enjoyed his "Shakespeare" biography--- got this first from the library--- but HAD to own it--- perfect for reading in "chunks" --- chapters at random--- great for the Anglophile"--- book arrived as described-- a lovely copy!"
"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 Thames, followed by a number of smaller rivers and streams: it's like a litany of water-names, an incantation. Also wonderful is the chapter on weather: the fogs and the rains and the floods and the frost fairs, when the whole river froze and winter markets were set up on the ice. When he's not listing facts and dates, Ackroyd is good at evoking the sensory images of a place and time, whether the lushness of a tropical Thames landscape, in the time before the last ice age, or the cold and wind of a damp winter in more recent times, or the filth and stench of the polluted river in the nineteenth century and before, or the shifting colors of the water, or the smells of cinnamon and coffee and tar by the docks."
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