"Magnificent. . . . Succeeds in animating on the page the life of one of the oldest and greatest cities in the world."–
The New York Times Book Review "Ackroyd is the most effortless guide. . . . This is much more than history: it is a tapestry of inspiration and love." –
The Observer "An erudite labour of love, a fan-letter to a fabulous city. . . . As exuberant, energetic and alarming as the city itself." –
Independent on Sunday "A fat and filling feast: pretty much everything of interest about the capital is crammed into the eight-hundred pages."–
The Times "If London had the ability to choose its biographer it undoubtedly would tap Peter Ackroyd."–
Vanity Fair "A wonderful book, a treasure of information and anecdote about one of the world's great cities, a book to be taken up again and again for the pleasures that lie within."–
Chicago Tribune "A book to match its subject . . . one gratefully rediscovers that urban unreality, the city of romance and mystery as well as the one of shops, pubs, and thoroughfares." –
The Washington Post
