Author Guide · Historical Fiction & Biography
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Peter Ackroyd grew up on a council estate in East Acton, took a double first in English at Cambridge, and became literary editor of The Spectator in 1973. He began as a poet, then spent forty years writing about one city: novels in which murders in 1980s Limehouse echo crimes from the 1700s, biographies of Londoners from Thomas More to Dickens and Blake, and a “biography” of London itself. Along the way he published more than 60 books, including a six-volume history of England. This guide covers his 13 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 13 key books · 1983–2017 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Peter Ackroyd has published more than 60 books. The best known are the novels Hawksmoor (1985), winner of the Whitbread Novel Award, and Chatterton (1987), shortlisted for the Booker Prize; the biographies Dickens (1990), Blake (1995) and The Life of Thomas More (1998); and London: The Biography (2000). Start with Hawksmoor: it shows in one novel the idea that runs through all his work, that London’s past keeps returning.
Where to Start with Peter Ackroyd
If you want his defining novel
→ Hawksmoor (1985) — two Nicholas Hawksmoors, seven churches, three centuries.
If you want his London non-fiction
→ London (2000) — the city told by theme, not by date.
If you want one of the big biographies
→ Dickens (1990) — his longest and most famous life.
If you want a Victorian murder story
→ Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem (1994) — the novel behind the 2016 film The Limehouse Golem.
13 Peter Ackroyd Books, in Order
The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde
His second novel is written as the journal Oscar Wilde keeps in Paris in the last months of his life, poor and in exile after prison. Ackroyd imitates Wilde’s voice throughout, from the epigrams to the self-pity. It won the Somerset Maugham Award.
T. S. Eliot
A life of the poet of The Waste Land, written while the Eliot estate allowed only limited quotation from the poems and none from the unpublished letters, so Ackroyd had to tell the story largely in his own words. It won the Whitbread Biography Award and was a joint winner of the Heinemann Award.
Hawksmoor
Two stories in alternating chapters. In the early 1700s the architect Nicholas Dyer builds seven churches in the East End and secretly buries human sacrifices under them; in the 1980s Detective Chief Superintendent Nicholas Hawksmoor investigates a series of stranglings at the same churches. The 18th-century chapters are written in period English, built on six months of reading at the British Library. It also won the Guardian Fiction Prize.
Chatterton
Charles Wychwood, a struggling poet in modern London, finds a portrait that seems to show Thomas Chatterton as a middle-aged man, although the poet supposedly died at 17 in 1770. A second strand follows the painter Henry Wallis making The Death of Chatterton with George Meredith as his model. Forgery and plagiarism run through every strand. It was shortlisted for the 1987 Booker Prize.
Dickens
A life of Charles Dickens of more than 1,000 pages, which follows him through the London streets he walked and wrote about. Between the chapters Ackroyd placed invented interludes, including conversations between Dickens and the biographer himself.
The House of Doctor Dee
Matthew Palmer inherits his father’s old house in Clerkenwell and learns it once belonged to John Dee, the Elizabethan mathematician and magician. His chapters alternate with Dee’s own account of his search for knowledge.
Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem
In 1880 a killer the press calls the Limehouse Golem is murdering people in the East End, while the music-hall performer Elizabeth Cree stands trial for poisoning her husband. The comedian Dan Leno, George Gissing and Karl Marx all pass through the story. Published in the US as The Trial of Elizabeth Cree, it was filmed as The Limehouse Golem (2016), with Bill Nighy and Olivia Cooke.
Blake
A life of William Blake, poet, painter and engraver, read through the London where he was born, worked and died and through the radical Dissenting tradition he came from. Ackroyd has called Blake the most significant thinker in the course of English history.
The Life of Thomas More
The lawyer, author of Utopia and Lord Chancellor who was executed in 1535 for refusing to accept Henry VIII as head of the English Church. Ackroyd places More in the Catholic London of his childhood and its daily religious life. It won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography.
London
The history of London from prehistory to the present, told as the life of a living creature and organised mostly by theme rather than by date. It won the South Bank Show Annual Award for Literature.
Thames
A companion to the London book: the Thames from its source in Gloucestershire to the estuary, through the history, trade, religion, art and literature that collected along its banks.
Foundation
The first of six volumes of his History of England, running from prehistory to 1509 and mixing the lives of kings with the daily life of ordinary people. The series continued with Tudors (2012), Civil War (2014), Revolution (2016), Dominion (2018) and Innovation (2021).
Queer City
A history of gay life in London from Roman times to the present: the molly houses of the 18th century, trials and scandals, and the long road to legal change.
In What Order to Read Peter Ackroyd
None of his books depends on another, except the six volumes of The History of England, which are best read in order. The rest can be read by subject: the London novels, the lives of writers and artists, and the books about London and England as places.
Novels and non-fiction feed each other. Dickens and Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem share the Victorian East End; Blake and The House of Doctor Dee share the visionary London tradition; London: The Biography collects much of what the novels had already used. Reading one of each in pairs shows how he works.
A reading path
1. Hawksmoor (1985)
2. Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem (1994)
3. London: The Biography (2000)
4. Dickens (1990)
5. Foundation (2011)
Everything Else Peter Ackroyd Published
Beyond the 13 key books: 40 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Other novels
13
13 books · 1982–2020
- 1982The Great Fire of Londonhis first novel
- 1989First Lightnovel
- 1992English Musicnovel
- 1996Milton in Americathe poet sails to New England
- 1999The Plato PapersLondon seen from the distant future
- 2003The Clerkenwell TalesLondon in 1399
- 2004The Lambs of LondonCharles and Mary Lamb and a Shakespeare forgery
- 2006The Fall of Troynovel
- 2008The Casebook of Victor FrankensteinFrankenstein retold in Shelley’s London
- 2009The Canterbury Tales: A RetellingChaucer in modern prose
- 2010The Death of King Arthura retelling of Malory
- 2013Three Brothersnovel
- 2020Mr Cadmusnovel
Other biographies
9
9 books · 1980–2015
- 1980Ezra Pound and His Worldan illustrated life
- 2004Chaucera brief life
- 2005Shakespeare: The Biographythe playwright and his London
- 2006J. M. W. Turnera brief life
- 2008Newtona brief life
- 2008Poe: A Life Cut Shorta brief life
- 2012Wilkie Collinsa brief life
- 2014Charlie Chaplina brief life
- 2015Alfred Hitchcocka brief life
The History of England, volumes 2–6
5
5 books · 2012–2021
- 2012Tudorsvol. 2
- 2014Civil Warvol. 3; also published as Rebellion
- 2016Revolutionvol. 4
- 2018Dominionvol. 5
- 2021Innovationvol. 6
London, England and other non-fiction
9
9 books · 1979–2025
- 1979Dressing Uptransvestism and drag
- 2002Albionthe origins of the English imagination
- 2009Venice: Pure Citya portrait of Venice
- 2010The English Ghostspectres through time
- 2011London Underthe city beneath the streets
- 2022The Colours of Londonthe city in its colours
- 2023The English Actorfrom medieval to modern
- 2024The English Soulfaith of a nation, from Bede to the present
- 2025Forgotten Londonthe hidden life of the city
Poetry
4
4 books · 1971–1987
- 1971Ouch!his first collection
- 1973London Lickpennypoems
- 1978Country Lifepoems
- 1987The Diversions of Purleypoems
The years · 1949–2025
Quick facts about Peter Ackroyd
- Known for
- Writing about London as a living thing whose past keeps breaking into the present, in novels, biographies and histories alike
- 1949
- Born in East Acton, London
- 1982
- First novel, The Great Fire of London
- 1985
- Hawksmoor
- 2011
- The History of England begins
- 2025
- Forgotten London
- Born
- 5 October 1949, East Acton, London; raised in a Catholic household by his mother and grandmother
- Education
- St Benedict’s, Ealing; Clare College, Cambridge (double first in English); Mellon Fellow at Yale, 1972
- Worked
- Literary editor of The Spectator 1973–1977, later joint managing editor; chief book reviewer of The Times
- Partner
- The American dancer Brian Kuhn, whom he met at Yale; Kuhn died of AIDS in 1994
- Prizes
- Whitbread Biography Award (1984), Whitbread Novel Award and Guardian Fiction Prize (1985), James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1998)
- Honours
- CBE (2003); Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (1984)
The red mark is 1985: Hawksmoor, the novel that won the Whitbread Novel Award and set the pattern for his London books.
How Peter Ackroyd Writes: London as a Living Thing
Ackroyd’s central idea is what he calls the “spirit of place”: that a street or district keeps its character for centuries and shapes whoever lives there. The novels build that idea into their structure. Hawksmoor, Chatterton and The House of Doctor Dee each run a modern story alongside an older one until the two begin to repeat each other.
He is a ventriloquist. For Hawksmoor he spent about six months reading 18th-century texts and borrowed vocabulary from Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary; The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde is written entirely in Wilde’s voice. Forgery, pastiche and borrowed identities are recurring subjects, most openly in Chatterton.
His biographies use the same methods: Dickens adds invented conversations to the documented life, and the London books are arranged by theme rather than by date. In a 2024 interview he described each book as “a voyage of discovery”. For the writer he has spent most time with, see Books by Charles Dickens.
Watch
Peter Ackroyd on Foundation and The History of England
Peter Ackroyd speaks at the Royal Festival Hall in London about Foundation, the first volume of his series The History of England; posted in October 2011 as part one of the event. From the official Book Break by Pan Macmillan channel.
Frequently asked questions about Peter Ackroyd’s books
How many books has Peter Ackroyd written?
More than 60, among them 18 novels, 13 biographies, a six-volume history of England, four collections of poetry and many books on London and England. This page covers his 13 key books, from The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde (1983) to Queer City (2017).
What are Peter Ackroyd’s books in order?
The key books are The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde (1983), T. S. Eliot (1984), Hawksmoor (1985), Chatterton (1987), Dickens (1990), The House of Doctor Dee (1993), Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem (1994), Blake (1995), The Life of Thomas More (1998), London: The Biography (2000), Thames: Sacred River (2007), Foundation (2011) and Queer City (2017). The full list is further down the page.
Where should I start with Peter Ackroyd?
With Hawksmoor (1985) if you read fiction, or London: The Biography (2000) if you prefer non-fiction. Both show his idea that London’s past keeps returning.
What is Peter Ackroyd’s most famous book?
London: The Biography (2000) is his best-known book overall; among the novels, Hawksmoor (1985), which won the Whitbread Novel Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize.
What is The History of England series in order?
Foundation (2011), Tudors (2012), Civil War (2014, also published as Rebellion), Revolution (2016), Dominion (2018) and Innovation (2021).
Was The Limehouse Golem based on a book?
Yes. The 2016 film, directed by Juan Carlos Medina from a screenplay by Jane Goldman, with Bill Nighy and Olivia Cooke, is based on Ackroyd’s novel Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem (1994), published in the US as The Trial of Elizabeth Cree.
Did Peter Ackroyd win the Booker Prize?
No. Chatterton was shortlisted in 1987. His prizes include the Whitbread Biography Award for T. S. Eliot (1984), the Whitbread Novel Award and Guardian Fiction Prize for Hawksmoor (1985) and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Life of Thomas More (1998).
Is Hawksmoor based on a real architect?
Partly. Nicholas Hawksmoor (c. 1661–1736) really built churches in London’s East End, and Christopher Wren and John Vanbrugh appear in the novel. Ackroyd renamed the architect Nicholas Dyer, gave the real name to his modern detective, and invented the Satanism and murders.
Is Peter Ackroyd still alive?
Yes. He was born on 5 October 1949 in East Acton, London, and continues to publish; The English Soul appeared in 2024 and Forgotten London in 2025.
Footnotes
- Peter Ackroyd — Wikipedia
- Hawksmoor (novel) — Wikipedia
- Chatterton (novel) — Wikipedia
- The Limehouse Golem — Wikipedia
- Author Peter Ackroyd: ‘You eat a great deal of knowledge’ — The Guardian, 2024
- Literary Londoners: William Blake — Gresham College, 1996
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“You eat a great deal of knowledge. You sick it up. And then you start again.”
— Peter Ackroyd, interview in The Guardian (2024)
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