Summary
‘Ackroyd reinvented the biography genre, pushing at the boundaries…he pulls off the feat of climbing inside Chaucer’s soul by immersing himself in the history and literature of the period’ Scotland on Sunday
Geoffrey Chaucer has some claim to being the greatest poet in the English language. Yet he has also been considered to be an invisible poet, self-depreciating and ironic, leaving only the breath of his comedy behind. In truth a great deal is known of him. He was a royal …
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780099287483 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 009928748X |
| Author: | Peter Ackroyd |
| Publisher: | Vintage Publishing |
| Imprint: | Vintage |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 208 |
| Release Date: | 1 June 2005 |
| Weight: | 183g |
| Dimensions: | 15mm x 129mm x 198mm |
| Series: | Brief Lives S. |
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Critics Review
Like a bird of biographical prey, Ackroyd identifies his subject in an iconic image of Chaucer addressing the court of Richard II and swoops to investigate
Like a bird of biographical prey, Ackroyd identifies his subject in an iconic image of Chaucer addressing the court of Richard II and swoops to investigate – Iain Finlayson * The Times *
Extensively researched and elegantly written – Sally Cousins * Sunday Telegraph *
Full, lively and eminently readable – Laurence Phelan * Independent on Sunday *
Ackroyd’s series of short lives bodes well: handy, attractive, well illustrated, useful – Anne Wroe * Sunday Times *
This elegantly written and nicely judged biography offers a welcome reintroduction to a much-underestimated figure, and gets Ackroyd’s new series of Brief Lives off to a promising start * Scotsman *
Peter Ackroyd
Peter Ackroyd is an award-winning historian, biographer, novelist, poet, and broadcaster. He is the author of the acclaimed non-fiction bestsellers London: The Biography, Thames: Sacred River, and London Under. His biographies include works on Charles Dickens, William Blake, Charlie Chaplin, and Alfred Hitchcock, and he has also written a multi-volume history of England.
Ackroyd has received numerous awards, including:
- Whitbread Biography Award
- Royal Society of Literature’s William Heinemann Award
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize
- Guardian Fiction Prize
- Somerset Maugham Award
- South Bank Prize for Literature
He holds a CBE for services to literature.
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