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Thames: Sacred River
'Thames: Sacred River', by the bestselling author of 'London: The Biography', is about the river from source to sea. It covers history from prehistoric times to the present; the flora of the river; paintings and photographs inspired by the Thames; its geology, smells and colour; its literature, laws and landscapes; its magic and myths; its architecture, trade and weather.
This book meanders gloriously, rather as the river does itself: here are Toad of Toad Hall and Julius Caesar, Henry VIII and Shelley, Turner and Three Men in a Boat. The reader learns about the fishes that swam in the river and the boats that plied on its surface; about floods and tides; hauntings and suicides; sewers, miasmas and malaria; locks, weirs and embankments; bridges, docks and palaces. All the towns and villages along the river's 215-mile length are described.
Peter Ackroyd has a genius for digging out the most surprising and entertaining details, and for writing about them in the most magisterial prose.
This book meanders gloriously, rather as the river does itself: here are Toad of Toad Hall and Julius Caesar, Henry VIII and Shelley, Turner and Three Men in a Boat. The reader learns about the fishes that swam in the river and the boats that plied on its surface; about floods and tides; hauntings and suicides; sewers, miasmas and malaria; locks, weirs and embankments; bridges, docks and palaces. All the towns and villages along the river's 215-mile length are described.
Peter Ackroyd has a genius for digging out the most surprising and entertaining details, and for writing about them in the most magisterial prose.
482 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
Peter Ackroyd
187 books1,419 followersPeter Ackroyd CBE is an English novelist and biographer with a particular interest in the history and culture of London.
Peter Ackroyd's mother worked in the personnel department of an engineering firm, his father having left the family home when Ackroyd was a baby. He was reading newspapers by the age of 5 and, at 9, wrote a play about Guy Fawkes. Reputedly, he first realized he was gay at the age of 7.
Ackroyd was educated at St. Benedict's, Ealing and at Clare College, Cambridge, from which he graduated with a double first in English. In 1972, he was a Mellon Fellow at Yale University in the United States. The result of this fellowship was Ackroyd's Notes for a New Culture, written when he was only 22 and eventually published in 1976. The title, a playful echo of T. S. Eliot's Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948), was an early indication of Ackroyd's penchant for creatively exploring and reexamining the works of other London-based writers.
Ackroyd's literary career began with poetry, including such works as London Lickpenny (1973) and The Diversions of Purley (1987). He later moved into fiction and has become an acclaimed author, winning the 1998 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for the biography Thomas More and being shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1987.
Ackroyd worked at The Spectator magazine between 1973 and 1977 and became joint managing editor in 1978. In 1982 he published The Great Fire of London, his first novel. This novel deals with one of Ackroyd's great heroes, Charles Dickens, and is a reworking of Little Dorrit. The novel set the stage for the long sequence of novels Ackroyd has produced since, all of which deal in some way with the complex interaction of time and space, and what Ackroyd calls "the spirit of place". It is also the first in a sequence of novels of London, through which he traces the changing, but curiously consistent nature of the city. Often this theme is explored through the city's artists, and especially its writers.
Ackroyd has always shown a great interest in the city of London, and one of his best known works, London: The Biography, is an extensive and thorough discussion of London through the ages.
His fascination with London literary and artistic figures is also displayed in the sequence of biographies he has produced of Ezra Pound (1980), T. S. Eliot (1984), Charles Dickens (1990), William Blake (1995), Thomas More (1998), Chaucer (2004), William Shakespeare (2005), and J. M. W. Turner. The city itself stands astride all these works, as it does in the fiction.
From 2003 to 2005, Ackroyd wrote a six-book non-fiction series (Voyages Through Time), intended for readers as young as eight. This was his first work for children. The critically acclaimed series is an extensive narrative of key periods in world history.
Early in his career, Ackroyd was nominated a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1984 and, as well as producing fiction, biography and other literary works, is also a regular radio and television broadcaster and book critic.
In the New Year's honours list of 2003, Ackroyd was awarded the CBE.
Peter Ackroyd's mother worked in the personnel department of an engineering firm, his father having left the family home when Ackroyd was a baby. He was reading newspapers by the age of 5 and, at 9, wrote a play about Guy Fawkes. Reputedly, he first realized he was gay at the age of 7.
Ackroyd was educated at St. Benedict's, Ealing and at Clare College, Cambridge, from which he graduated with a double first in English. In 1972, he was a Mellon Fellow at Yale University in the United States. The result of this fellowship was Ackroyd's Notes for a New Culture, written when he was only 22 and eventually published in 1976. The title, a playful echo of T. S. Eliot's Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948), was an early indication of Ackroyd's penchant for creatively exploring and reexamining the works of other London-based writers.
Ackroyd's literary career began with poetry, including such works as London Lickpenny (1973) and The Diversions of Purley (1987). He later moved into fiction and has become an acclaimed author, winning the 1998 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for the biography Thomas More and being shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1987.
Ackroyd worked at The Spectator magazine between 1973 and 1977 and became joint managing editor in 1978. In 1982 he published The Great Fire of London, his first novel. This novel deals with one of Ackroyd's great heroes, Charles Dickens, and is a reworking of Little Dorrit. The novel set the stage for the long sequence of novels Ackroyd has produced since, all of which deal in some way with the complex interaction of time and space, and what Ackroyd calls "the spirit of place". It is also the first in a sequence of novels of London, through which he traces the changing, but curiously consistent nature of the city. Often this theme is explored through the city's artists, and especially its writers.
Ackroyd has always shown a great interest in the city of London, and one of his best known works, London: The Biography, is an extensive and thorough discussion of London through the ages.
His fascination with London literary and artistic figures is also displayed in the sequence of biographies he has produced of Ezra Pound (1980), T. S. Eliot (1984), Charles Dickens (1990), William Blake (1995), Thomas More (1998), Chaucer (2004), William Shakespeare (2005), and J. M. W. Turner. The city itself stands astride all these works, as it does in the fiction.
From 2003 to 2005, Ackroyd wrote a six-book non-fiction series (Voyages Through Time), intended for readers as young as eight. This was his first work for children. The critically acclaimed series is an extensive narrative of key periods in world history.
Early in his career, Ackroyd was nominated a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1984 and, as well as producing fiction, biography and other literary works, is also a regular radio and television broadcaster and book critic.
In the New Year's honours list of 2003, Ackroyd was awarded the CBE.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
January 14, 2009
I wish I knew what went wrong with this book. I thought it would be one that I would really enjoy, the kind of quirky history that focuses on one element, and then ties everything together around that element. Also, I am a huge fan of Peter Ackroyd. He is an elegant and entertaining writer. Beginning with fiction (Chatterton, Hawksmoor, Milton in America, etc.) and then extending into history and biography (Dickens, Pound, Chaucer, London the City...) he has created a bookshelf full of well written, entertaining and informative work.
But somehow, he seems to have lost himself in this one. This book feels as though he spent ten years doing research, and filling out thousands of little note cards, then organized them together by topic and period, and then just dumped the damn things into his word processor. The sense one gets is of list after list after list, ad infinitum; followed by little story after little story, with no unifying theme at all. Ironically, his comment on John Leland's work Itinerary, describes his own book perfectly. "His was an anecdotal and perambulatory style, a collection of notes rather than a coherent narrative."
But somehow, he seems to have lost himself in this one. This book feels as though he spent ten years doing research, and filling out thousands of little note cards, then organized them together by topic and period, and then just dumped the damn things into his word processor. The sense one gets is of list after list after list, ad infinitum; followed by little story after little story, with no unifying theme at all. Ironically, his comment on John Leland's work Itinerary, describes his own book perfectly. "His was an anecdotal and perambulatory style, a collection of notes rather than a coherent narrative."
October 27, 2019
Thames: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd charts the history, geography, flora and fauna of the Thames, as well its cultural, industrial, and economic impact on London and Londoners. It paints a vivid portrait of those who made their living on the Thames, by the Thames, or near the Thames.
Ackroyd’s research is extensive and impressive. He explores the Thames under chapter headings ranging from its role as metaphor; its evolution through the centuries; as a site for the performance of rituals, including baptisms and sacrifices; as an instrument of industrialization and trade; as a source of inspiration for art and literature; as a healer; as a depository for human waste; as a site for pleasure; and as a place of life and death. At various times in its long life and in its various locations, the Thames is described as pristine and full of potential; at other times, it is dark, murky, with an overpowering stench that saturates its surroundings.
Although replete with interesting tidbits about authors and artists and where they lived along the Thames, the biography suffers from choppy writing and a lack of coherent unity. At times it’s as if Ackroyd merely parades names, activities, and/or locations, barely linking them with a unifying theme. The lists alternate with little anecdotes about life and activity on the Thames. Overall, the impression is of a series of research notes hurriedly pasted together. The narrative seems to mosey along, jumping from one point to the next, from one location to the next, and from one time frame to the next.
Ackroyd is so profuse in his admiration for the Thames that he seems to endow it with almost mythic qualities, occasionally elevating it beyond reason. The Thames does have a long and interesting history. It has had a profound effect on the growth of a city. And it is a beautiful river. But it is worthwhile to remember, when all is said and done, it is just a river.
Recommended with reservations.
Ackroyd’s research is extensive and impressive. He explores the Thames under chapter headings ranging from its role as metaphor; its evolution through the centuries; as a site for the performance of rituals, including baptisms and sacrifices; as an instrument of industrialization and trade; as a source of inspiration for art and literature; as a healer; as a depository for human waste; as a site for pleasure; and as a place of life and death. At various times in its long life and in its various locations, the Thames is described as pristine and full of potential; at other times, it is dark, murky, with an overpowering stench that saturates its surroundings.
Although replete with interesting tidbits about authors and artists and where they lived along the Thames, the biography suffers from choppy writing and a lack of coherent unity. At times it’s as if Ackroyd merely parades names, activities, and/or locations, barely linking them with a unifying theme. The lists alternate with little anecdotes about life and activity on the Thames. Overall, the impression is of a series of research notes hurriedly pasted together. The narrative seems to mosey along, jumping from one point to the next, from one location to the next, and from one time frame to the next.
Ackroyd is so profuse in his admiration for the Thames that he seems to endow it with almost mythic qualities, occasionally elevating it beyond reason. The Thames does have a long and interesting history. It has had a profound effect on the growth of a city. And it is a beautiful river. But it is worthwhile to remember, when all is said and done, it is just a river.
Recommended with reservations.
July 10, 2013
Early in Thames: The Biography the first post-Roman bridge is noted at being at York in the eighth century; we know this from church records stating that a witch was thrown from such and drowned. So, okay, what is the significance of this? We don't know, the events is passed over and the facts and images keep flowing. Employing a riparian model, Peter Ackroyd allows the jetsam and debris of history to be washed and buried in the mud immemorial. Thames proceeds thematically, but each sections is scattered in bits: Pepys, the Saxons and Victorian industry may appear under a heading, or maybe Turner, Satanism and angling. You never quite know and it doesn't appear to ultimately matter. Walter Raleigh appears a few times and Ackroyd notes that several volumes of his History of the World only led to a led B.C. timeline. Maybe Mr. Ackroyd should consider such focus. But that isn't the point here, is it?
Sure enough Ackroyd has since started his history of everything British. He and Simon Schama can now stage pay-per-view pissing contests. Just remember 30 million years ago the Thames was connected to the Rhine.
Sure enough Ackroyd has since started his history of everything British. He and Simon Schama can now stage pay-per-view pissing contests. Just remember 30 million years ago the Thames was connected to the Rhine.
May 7, 2013
Thames: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd purports to offer a sister volume to the highly successful London: The Biography. To a point it succeeds, but in general the feeling of pastiche dominates to such an extent that the idea of biography soon dissolves into a scrapbook.
The book presents an interesting journey and many fascinating encounters. But it also regularly conveys a sense of the incomplete, sometimes that of a jumbled ragbag of associations that still needs the application of work-heat and condensation in order to produce something palatable. Thus a book that promises much eventually delivers only a partially-formed experience.
Ostensibly the project makes perfect sense. London: The Biography described the life of the city, its history and its inhabitants. There was a stress on literary impressions, art and occasional social history to offer context. This was no mere chronicle and neither was it just a collection of tenuously related facts. It was a selective and, perhaps because of that, an engaging glimpse into the author’s personal relationship with this great city.
Thames River flows like an essential artery through and within London’s life. Peter Ackroyd identifies the metaphor and returns to it repeatedly, casting this flow of water in the role of bringer of both life and death to the human interaction that it engenders. And the flow is inherently ambiguous, at least as far downstream as the city itself, where the Thames is a tidal estuary. At source, and for most of its meandering life, it snakes generally towards the east, its flow unidirectional. But this apparent singularity of purpose is complicated by its repeated merging with sources of quite separate character via almost uncountable tributaries, some of which have quite different, distinct, perhaps contradictory imputed personalities of their own.
Thus Peter Ackroyd attempts by occasional geographical journey but largely via a series of thematic examinations to chart a character, an influence and a history that feeds, harms, threatens and often beautifies London, the metropolis that still, despite the book’s title, dominates the scene. These universal themes – bringer of life, death, nurture, disease, transcendence and reality, amongst many others – provides the author with an immense challenge. Surely this character is too vast a presence to sum up in a single character capable of biography. And, sure enough, this vast expanse of possibility is soon revealed as the book’s inherent weakness. Thus the overall concept ceases to work quite soon after the book’s source.
A sense of potpourri and pastiche begins to dominate. Quotations abound, many from poets who found inspiration by this great river, but their organisation and too often their content leaves much to be desired. Ideas float past, sometimes on the tide, only to reappear a few pages on, going the other way. Sure enough they will be back again before the end. Dates come and go in similar fashion, often back and forth within a paragraph. No wonder the tidal river is murky, given that so many metaphors flow through it simultaneously.
And then there are the rough edges, the apparently unfinished saw cuts that were left in the rush to get the text to press. We learn early on that water can flow uphill. Young eels come in at two inches, a length the text tells us is the same as 25mm. We have an estuary described as 250 miles square, but only 30 miles long. We have brackish water, apparently salt water mixed with fresh in either equal or unequal quantities. Even a writer as skilful as Peter Ackroyd can get stuck in mud like this.
At the end, as if we had not already tired of a procession of facts only barely linked by narrative, we have an ‘Alternative Typology’ where the bits that could not be cut and pasted into the text are presented wholly uncooked – not even prepared.
Thames: The Biography was something of a disappointment. It is packed with wonderful material and overall is worth the lengthy journey but, like the river itself, it goes on. The book has the feel of a work in progress. This may be no bad thing, since the river is probably much the same.
The book presents an interesting journey and many fascinating encounters. But it also regularly conveys a sense of the incomplete, sometimes that of a jumbled ragbag of associations that still needs the application of work-heat and condensation in order to produce something palatable. Thus a book that promises much eventually delivers only a partially-formed experience.
Ostensibly the project makes perfect sense. London: The Biography described the life of the city, its history and its inhabitants. There was a stress on literary impressions, art and occasional social history to offer context. This was no mere chronicle and neither was it just a collection of tenuously related facts. It was a selective and, perhaps because of that, an engaging glimpse into the author’s personal relationship with this great city.
Thames River flows like an essential artery through and within London’s life. Peter Ackroyd identifies the metaphor and returns to it repeatedly, casting this flow of water in the role of bringer of both life and death to the human interaction that it engenders. And the flow is inherently ambiguous, at least as far downstream as the city itself, where the Thames is a tidal estuary. At source, and for most of its meandering life, it snakes generally towards the east, its flow unidirectional. But this apparent singularity of purpose is complicated by its repeated merging with sources of quite separate character via almost uncountable tributaries, some of which have quite different, distinct, perhaps contradictory imputed personalities of their own.
Thus Peter Ackroyd attempts by occasional geographical journey but largely via a series of thematic examinations to chart a character, an influence and a history that feeds, harms, threatens and often beautifies London, the metropolis that still, despite the book’s title, dominates the scene. These universal themes – bringer of life, death, nurture, disease, transcendence and reality, amongst many others – provides the author with an immense challenge. Surely this character is too vast a presence to sum up in a single character capable of biography. And, sure enough, this vast expanse of possibility is soon revealed as the book’s inherent weakness. Thus the overall concept ceases to work quite soon after the book’s source.
A sense of potpourri and pastiche begins to dominate. Quotations abound, many from poets who found inspiration by this great river, but their organisation and too often their content leaves much to be desired. Ideas float past, sometimes on the tide, only to reappear a few pages on, going the other way. Sure enough they will be back again before the end. Dates come and go in similar fashion, often back and forth within a paragraph. No wonder the tidal river is murky, given that so many metaphors flow through it simultaneously.
And then there are the rough edges, the apparently unfinished saw cuts that were left in the rush to get the text to press. We learn early on that water can flow uphill. Young eels come in at two inches, a length the text tells us is the same as 25mm. We have an estuary described as 250 miles square, but only 30 miles long. We have brackish water, apparently salt water mixed with fresh in either equal or unequal quantities. Even a writer as skilful as Peter Ackroyd can get stuck in mud like this.
At the end, as if we had not already tired of a procession of facts only barely linked by narrative, we have an ‘Alternative Typology’ where the bits that could not be cut and pasted into the text are presented wholly uncooked – not even prepared.
Thames: The Biography was something of a disappointment. It is packed with wonderful material and overall is worth the lengthy journey but, like the river itself, it goes on. The book has the feel of a work in progress. This may be no bad thing, since the river is probably much the same.
June 11, 2017
Trigger warnings: suicide (there's a whole chapter devoted to death and the Thames, a lot of which focuses on suicides)
3.5 stars.
This is a very comprehensive look at the Thames - its history, its geography, its flora and fauna, the way it has influenced artists and writers, the way that it's shaped life in the UK over the centuries.
Some chapters are incredibly short. Others were a little too long. And honestly, it jumped around a liiiiiittle too much for my liking. But it was very readable, and full of interesting facts. Plus, that dust jacket is super freaking cool.
3.5 stars.
This is a very comprehensive look at the Thames - its history, its geography, its flora and fauna, the way it has influenced artists and writers, the way that it's shaped life in the UK over the centuries.
Some chapters are incredibly short. Others were a little too long. And honestly, it jumped around a liiiiiittle too much for my liking. But it was very readable, and full of interesting facts. Plus, that dust jacket is super freaking cool.
July 20, 2010
When Ackroyd tackles people, his biographies are utterly engrossing. Wider topics (river, cities) tend to exacerbate his tendency to meander with little thought to relevance or coherence. This book also suffers from his tendency to elevate anything British beyond all reason.
October 26, 2015
(Mostly) lovely read. Review to come shortly.
++++++++++++++++
My book blog -------> http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.bl...
It is strange to be a little in love with a river? Maybe obsessed is a little more accurate, but there is something so lovely and melancholy and of course historic about this stretch of water, easily one of the most famous rivers in the world. Perhaps that is my bias, given my love of that little island where she flows. Ah well.
If you read my review of 'Foundation' by the same author earlier in the week, you can imagine my trepidation with beginning this one. Foundation was so terrible, not at all what I have come to know and enjoy from Peter Ackroyd, so I was nervous that he would somehow have screwed this one up too - though how can you really screw up a biography of A RIVER? Luckily, he did not. It was everything I expected and thought it would be.
Ackroyd offers up a whole slew of information, from the origin of the name 'Thames', through to where the Thames becomes the sea. I found many of the chapters highly informative, though naturally cared less for the information regarding the river in Victorian times and beyond. Not the river's fault of course, but I am just less interested in how the Victorians used the river, because from then on it is not really new information. But to learn about the Iron Age, Bronze Age, etc settlements? That is something else entirely and always among my favorite topics.
My two favorite sections easily were 'Shadows and Depths' and 'The River of Death'. They were broken down further into sections, among the most interesting being 'Legends of the River'. Unfortunately it was just a few short pages and dealt with the paranormal element. Surely some of the more well-known stories could have been elaborated on, if Ackroyd could spend 80 pages talking about those who work on the river. Some of those chapters I skimmed, not going to lie. 'Offerings' was another chapter I found most interesting, as it dealt with the many hundreds of thousands of objects recovered from the Thames, constantly. From weapons and brooches to skulls, the Thames is a keeper of secrets that we will never be able to know. It really is fascinating it macabre sort of way the amount of skulls that have been discovered.
Side note to Ackroyd - don't suppose things about Eleanor of Aquitaine. At one point he mentions a location where Henry II's mistress 'Fair Rosamund' lived until her death, stating, "...It was said that she was eventually poisoned by Henry's wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine." While a little revenge in the middle ages would not have been unheard of, let's be realistic. Henry had imprisoned Eleanor for fifteen years, seeing as how she kept inciting their sons into rebellion against him. She was powerful enough in her own right and had little need for Henry at that point in their lives.
But, to end on a positive note, I loved the many maps included - especially in the additional material, 'An Alternative Topography, from Source to Sea' where Ackroyd takes the reader from the beginning of the Thames to the end, stopping at the various villages, castles, and cities along the way. There were many photographs as well to enhance the descriptions throughout and despite that massive amount of pollution, I still want to follow the river myself from start to finish. What a journey that would be.
++++++++++++++++
My book blog -------> http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.bl...
It is strange to be a little in love with a river? Maybe obsessed is a little more accurate, but there is something so lovely and melancholy and of course historic about this stretch of water, easily one of the most famous rivers in the world. Perhaps that is my bias, given my love of that little island where she flows. Ah well.
If you read my review of 'Foundation' by the same author earlier in the week, you can imagine my trepidation with beginning this one. Foundation was so terrible, not at all what I have come to know and enjoy from Peter Ackroyd, so I was nervous that he would somehow have screwed this one up too - though how can you really screw up a biography of A RIVER? Luckily, he did not. It was everything I expected and thought it would be.
Ackroyd offers up a whole slew of information, from the origin of the name 'Thames', through to where the Thames becomes the sea. I found many of the chapters highly informative, though naturally cared less for the information regarding the river in Victorian times and beyond. Not the river's fault of course, but I am just less interested in how the Victorians used the river, because from then on it is not really new information. But to learn about the Iron Age, Bronze Age, etc settlements? That is something else entirely and always among my favorite topics.
My two favorite sections easily were 'Shadows and Depths' and 'The River of Death'. They were broken down further into sections, among the most interesting being 'Legends of the River'. Unfortunately it was just a few short pages and dealt with the paranormal element. Surely some of the more well-known stories could have been elaborated on, if Ackroyd could spend 80 pages talking about those who work on the river. Some of those chapters I skimmed, not going to lie. 'Offerings' was another chapter I found most interesting, as it dealt with the many hundreds of thousands of objects recovered from the Thames, constantly. From weapons and brooches to skulls, the Thames is a keeper of secrets that we will never be able to know. It really is fascinating it macabre sort of way the amount of skulls that have been discovered.
Side note to Ackroyd - don't suppose things about Eleanor of Aquitaine. At one point he mentions a location where Henry II's mistress 'Fair Rosamund' lived until her death, stating, "...It was said that she was eventually poisoned by Henry's wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine." While a little revenge in the middle ages would not have been unheard of, let's be realistic. Henry had imprisoned Eleanor for fifteen years, seeing as how she kept inciting their sons into rebellion against him. She was powerful enough in her own right and had little need for Henry at that point in their lives.
But, to end on a positive note, I loved the many maps included - especially in the additional material, 'An Alternative Topography, from Source to Sea' where Ackroyd takes the reader from the beginning of the Thames to the end, stopping at the various villages, castles, and cities along the way. There were many photographs as well to enhance the descriptions throughout and despite that massive amount of pollution, I still want to follow the river myself from start to finish. What a journey that would be.
December 19, 2012
A majestic work, brilliantly researched, succinctly chronicled and superbly written, 'Thames: Sacred River' enhances Peter Ackroyd's glowing reputation as an excellent writer of historical works.
Only 215 miles in length, the Thames has as much history about it as almost any river in the world and the author takes us back to neolithic times and then meanders through time with great detail through to the modern day Canary Wharf and industrial landscapes around the mouth of the river.
History, legend, literature, art, trade, pleasure, bridges, flora and fauna are all covered in detail and each section is told in such a way that the reader's attention is avidly held. Henry VIII features constantly, Shelley, Dickens, Turner and many other arty and literary figures feature prominently, the bridges are described in detail as are all the Churches, Abbeys and Monastaries that abound along the banks of the river. Indeed, very little, if anything, is missed.
And finally the book finishes with the topography of the river, each town and village along the way getting a mention together with historic associations, such as Cookham where Stanley Spencer spent much time and wrote lengthily about the Thames.
It is such a good book that when finished, one tends to think of starting it all over again and reliving the millions of years and enjoying again the associations with the many people that have featured in the glorious tale.
... but there again there are many other books awaiting reading! Perhaps at some later date.
Only 215 miles in length, the Thames has as much history about it as almost any river in the world and the author takes us back to neolithic times and then meanders through time with great detail through to the modern day Canary Wharf and industrial landscapes around the mouth of the river.
History, legend, literature, art, trade, pleasure, bridges, flora and fauna are all covered in detail and each section is told in such a way that the reader's attention is avidly held. Henry VIII features constantly, Shelley, Dickens, Turner and many other arty and literary figures feature prominently, the bridges are described in detail as are all the Churches, Abbeys and Monastaries that abound along the banks of the river. Indeed, very little, if anything, is missed.
And finally the book finishes with the topography of the river, each town and village along the way getting a mention together with historic associations, such as Cookham where Stanley Spencer spent much time and wrote lengthily about the Thames.
It is such a good book that when finished, one tends to think of starting it all over again and reliving the millions of years and enjoying again the associations with the many people that have featured in the glorious tale.
... but there again there are many other books awaiting reading! Perhaps at some later date.
March 9, 2009
More than you'd ever need to know about the gods and fairies and folklore surrounding the Thames. I usually enjoy Ackroyd (His 'London' is great!) but this I couldn't get into.
November 2, 2023
Whew, was this a big old tome of a book to get through. I think Peter Ackroyd literally looked up every time the word Thames has been written in the history of man and then referenced it here!
There are certain chapters more appealing than others; for me the chapters about topography, geography, weather and death (!) were appealing, not so much the ones regarding monarchical history, trade or folklore.
The work is extensive, I'm guessing a little too extensive as concentration and perseverance start to wane dramatically during the reading. I've jumped in and out of this for weeks. So finally, I'm making my final jump out and giving a 2 star rating for the excessive detail which detracts from the work. Some editing could have made this more bearable.
There are certain chapters more appealing than others; for me the chapters about topography, geography, weather and death (!) were appealing, not so much the ones regarding monarchical history, trade or folklore.
The work is extensive, I'm guessing a little too extensive as concentration and perseverance start to wane dramatically during the reading. I've jumped in and out of this for weeks. So finally, I'm making my final jump out and giving a 2 star rating for the excessive detail which detracts from the work. Some editing could have made this more bearable.
March 7, 2020
I enjoyed this very much indeed although it does flow on and meander a bit. The narrative looks quite linear at first glance: the chapters follow the river, illustrated by maps, from source to sea. But there is much that is discursive and episodic, moving between different timeframes and multiple perspectives. If you like this kind of thing then you will enjoy this, as I did. But if you want a narrative that keeps to the point and doesn't keep getting diverted into side channels or changing pace, then you could find it irritating.
April 15, 2017
Good in places, but unfocussed. Marred by Ackroyd's seemingly mystical ideas about the Thames, and how it has had some psychic influence over the people living nearby across the millennia. For Ackroyd it seems as though the Thames itself is some sort of deity, and this book is not so much a history of the human activity in and around the Thames as a history of the deity; people come second. Even when he's not going quite so far, he seems convinced that the Thames is unique and that even when it shares superficial similarities with other rivers, the Thames is somehow special. Some examples:
• One chapter talks about the discovery of mutilated pagan statues in the Thames, dated to the early Christian period. Ackroyd interprets this not as the destruction of pagan idols by recent converts to Christianity but as (subconscious?) worship of the Thames-deity by sacrificing the lesser gods to it.
• “Swans exist in many other places, and can be found in locations as far apart as New Zealand and Kazakhstan, but their true territory might be that of the Thames.” What does this even mean? What special quality does the Thames have that elevates it above all the other places swans are found? (Englishness, I presume.)
• A chapter on the pollution of the Thames, which makes the observation that different kinds of pollution have been given different names. Well, gosh, I wouldn't expect people to use different words for different things, what a shocking revelation.
I really enjoyed his Foundation, and hoped that Thames would be more of the same. Now I'm just glad I read Foundation first, since if I'd read Thames first I may not have bothered to read his other works.
• One chapter talks about the discovery of mutilated pagan statues in the Thames, dated to the early Christian period. Ackroyd interprets this not as the destruction of pagan idols by recent converts to Christianity but as (subconscious?) worship of the Thames-deity by sacrificing the lesser gods to it.
• “Swans exist in many other places, and can be found in locations as far apart as New Zealand and Kazakhstan, but their true territory might be that of the Thames.” What does this even mean? What special quality does the Thames have that elevates it above all the other places swans are found? (Englishness, I presume.)
• A chapter on the pollution of the Thames, which makes the observation that different kinds of pollution have been given different names. Well, gosh, I wouldn't expect people to use different words for different things, what a shocking revelation.
I really enjoyed his Foundation, and hoped that Thames would be more of the same. Now I'm just glad I read Foundation first, since if I'd read Thames first I may not have bothered to read his other works.
October 29, 2011
Peter Ackroyd's 'Thames-Sacred River' published 2007, is a companion volume to his very much celebrated 'London:The Biography' from 2000. More than just a good read, Ackroyd has produced a wonderful and evocative masterpiece for 'Old Father Thames'. The writing is poetic, scholarly, fact packed and flows as gracefully as the river itself.
Typical of this authors work, here is a fully comprehensive biography of this 215 mile long river from Thames Head to the sea. It's history is excavated from Pangaea all the way to the London Olympic Games of 2012. The human river dwellers from the last ice age to Canary Wharf. The spirits of this meandering flow from Celtic river gods to Richard the Lionheart's crocodile. All the flora and fauna from the most ancient yew to the swan with two nicks. The river inspired artists from Turner's watercolour to Monet's impressionism. Writers from Tacitus to Jerome K. Jerome. Poets from Spenser to Shelley. All the human habitation from Kemble to Canvey Island, with all the springs, creeks, weirs, wells, wharfs, canals, bridges, locks and docks in between.
Read this book, and if there are not at least a thousand facts for you to learn, then I'll jump off Waterloo Bridge.
Almost fifteen years ago, I set off from Lechlade and sailed on the Thames, up river, in search of the source. How nice to learn that another romantic, Percy Bysshe Shelley attempted the very same voyage almost two hundred years before. It seems we both failed at the same place.
Typical of this authors work, here is a fully comprehensive biography of this 215 mile long river from Thames Head to the sea. It's history is excavated from Pangaea all the way to the London Olympic Games of 2012. The human river dwellers from the last ice age to Canary Wharf. The spirits of this meandering flow from Celtic river gods to Richard the Lionheart's crocodile. All the flora and fauna from the most ancient yew to the swan with two nicks. The river inspired artists from Turner's watercolour to Monet's impressionism. Writers from Tacitus to Jerome K. Jerome. Poets from Spenser to Shelley. All the human habitation from Kemble to Canvey Island, with all the springs, creeks, weirs, wells, wharfs, canals, bridges, locks and docks in between.
Read this book, and if there are not at least a thousand facts for you to learn, then I'll jump off Waterloo Bridge.
Almost fifteen years ago, I set off from Lechlade and sailed on the Thames, up river, in search of the source. How nice to learn that another romantic, Percy Bysshe Shelley attempted the very same voyage almost two hundred years before. It seems we both failed at the same place.
May 25, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. I meandered around the river, acquiring new knowledge and new perspectives and thoroughly enjoyed the prose.
The book is not perfect: I think some judicious editing would have been useful. In one part, it reads as though Claudius was in Britain only a decade or so after Julius Caesar whereas by my rough estimation it must have been almost 90 years later.
Yes, if I could have given the book 4.5 stars I would have done so. But somehow, less than 5 stars seemed churlish for a book which has given me so much reading pleasure over several weeks.
I found myself drifting in the book: fascinated by the facts, interested by the speculation and intrigued by the possibilities. 'Water is utterly mysterious'
'Thames' contains a bibliography which provides a starting point for further exploration.
Highly recommended, but not necessarily as an authoritative source of historical dates.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
The book is not perfect: I think some judicious editing would have been useful. In one part, it reads as though Claudius was in Britain only a decade or so after Julius Caesar whereas by my rough estimation it must have been almost 90 years later.
Yes, if I could have given the book 4.5 stars I would have done so. But somehow, less than 5 stars seemed churlish for a book which has given me so much reading pleasure over several weeks.
I found myself drifting in the book: fascinated by the facts, interested by the speculation and intrigued by the possibilities. 'Water is utterly mysterious'
'Thames' contains a bibliography which provides a starting point for further exploration.
Highly recommended, but not necessarily as an authoritative source of historical dates.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
January 30, 2017
Author should be put in jail along with his book until he adds all the sources and citations. Until then copies of this book should be moved to the fiction section. Myths, speculation, facts, legends, hearsay, author's wild imaginings, drug induced hallucinations are all reported in the same way as if they had equal value. I've listened to drunks in pubs who sourced their material more transparently.
September 5, 2018
I truly love Ackroyd's style of writing. Having read London. A Biography. as well as London Under I had very high hopes for this book as well. While it did not truly disappoint me, it did also not thrill me. As the review by the Sunday Times rightfully says, the book is "meandering". Ackroyd has a couple of theses connected to mythology and psychology that seem important to him, but that in my eyes could be said about many of the world's great rivers, but that Ackroyd presents as if they were a specific yet timeless truth about the Thames in particular.
The book contains a lot of information, but is reader friendly. The meandering takes you along as if you were on a river cruise. However, it is advisable to know the geography and place names of the Thames a little or at least look at the maps at the beginning and the end of the book.
Ackroyd covers a variety of topics and many of those in depth. I went to London having read the book halfway and I truly did see the Thames with different eyes. Thus, if you have a connection to London or any other place by the river, the book will give you a new outlook and is great to read.
The final part of the book is an overview of all the towns from the source of the Thames to the sea. Ackroyd covers the etymology of the place names as well as important historical events and trivia. This last part has really made me put walking the Thames source to sea on my bucket list and I will definitely take a copy of that last part with me.
Overall, Thames: Sacred River is great to read if you have a connection to the river, a bit of time, and if you do not need the historic facts rendered in absolute precision.
The book contains a lot of information, but is reader friendly. The meandering takes you along as if you were on a river cruise. However, it is advisable to know the geography and place names of the Thames a little or at least look at the maps at the beginning and the end of the book.
Ackroyd covers a variety of topics and many of those in depth. I went to London having read the book halfway and I truly did see the Thames with different eyes. Thus, if you have a connection to London or any other place by the river, the book will give you a new outlook and is great to read.
The final part of the book is an overview of all the towns from the source of the Thames to the sea. Ackroyd covers the etymology of the place names as well as important historical events and trivia. This last part has really made me put walking the Thames source to sea on my bucket list and I will definitely take a copy of that last part with me.
Overall, Thames: Sacred River is great to read if you have a connection to the river, a bit of time, and if you do not need the historic facts rendered in absolute precision.
January 10, 2018
Having been to London several times, this book is an excellent companion for those who have ventured across the pond and those who wish too.
Ackroyd takes you a boat trip from source to sea and all parts in between. Historical and a bit modern, his 2007 biography is a must read.
Helpful note: one may wish to buy a map of England and or London where the Thames is shown in detail. It’s a great aid in points of reference and adds to the enjoyment of the book.
Ackroyd takes you a boat trip from source to sea and all parts in between. Historical and a bit modern, his 2007 biography is a must read.
Helpful note: one may wish to buy a map of England and or London where the Thames is shown in detail. It’s a great aid in points of reference and adds to the enjoyment of the book.
December 2, 2022
En biografi av floden Themsen. Fascinerande, välskriven, och mångtydig. Kanske inte överdrivet intelligent, men trevlig. Utmärkt julklappstips.
July 17, 2017
After reading this book I will never look at or read any reference to the Thames the same again. History, literature, folklore, human drama, newspaper reports and mythology all swirl and eddy around this study of the great river of England.
There is much covered in this book, too much perhaps in too little and too brief a manner. Ackroyd's knowledge is unquestioned. I learned much, but, on reflection, too little about any one specific point or issue. It seemed at times that facts, quotations, and anecdotes tumbled with hurried intensity but little depth.
Still, Ackroyd's London is an excellent book in that it does cover so many facets of the storied history of the river. For anyone who wants any knowledge of the river the 15 Chapter headings with their attendant sub-headings will guide you and instruct you. I was fascinated by the scope of the river and how Ackroyd's was able to unfold so much information.
The book is well represented with illustrations and pictures. You can feel the joy Ackroyd has as he presents this river to his readers.
I highly recommend "London" to anyone and everyone. I also hope that with this book many people will be inspired to dig deeper into the many varied aspects of the information presented. There is so much to learn and Ackroyd is a fine writer.
There is much covered in this book, too much perhaps in too little and too brief a manner. Ackroyd's knowledge is unquestioned. I learned much, but, on reflection, too little about any one specific point or issue. It seemed at times that facts, quotations, and anecdotes tumbled with hurried intensity but little depth.
Still, Ackroyd's London is an excellent book in that it does cover so many facets of the storied history of the river. For anyone who wants any knowledge of the river the 15 Chapter headings with their attendant sub-headings will guide you and instruct you. I was fascinated by the scope of the river and how Ackroyd's was able to unfold so much information.
The book is well represented with illustrations and pictures. You can feel the joy Ackroyd has as he presents this river to his readers.
I highly recommend "London" to anyone and everyone. I also hope that with this book many people will be inspired to dig deeper into the many varied aspects of the information presented. There is so much to learn and Ackroyd is a fine writer.
May 6, 2013
It's hard not to respect this book. Peter Ackroyd has included an amazing amount of detail and political history is blended with cultural and anthropological references.
But in general it's just too much information, with numerous very similar examples used to bolster each point made. Poetry is quoted on almost every page (or at least it feels that way after you finish the book, but none of it was moving, and the quotes are mostly snippets. They serve, perhaps, more to glorify the author than entertain the reader.
I also lost patience with the effort to link the river with a kind of mystical or religious sense. I'm comfortable with a river having a major impact on commerce, politics, and perhaps even culture. But I am not convinced that the Thames possesses a distinctive individual character which has shaped the theology and emotions of the people who live near it.
I don't read much non-fiction these days, so it's perhaps my shortcoming that I miss having at least some kind of story line. The 441-page book has 45 chapters, so most are pretty brief. There is a logical sequence no doubt in the author's mind, but it read to me like a fairly random parade of subjects.
This book will be most entertaining for individuals who really know the geography of the Thames Valley. I know London well enough that the references to the various towns in that area were more interesting to me. But I got lost in the innumerable references to smaller places with which I was unfamiliar. There are a lot of maps (the best ones are hidden at the end, by the way) but I did not have the patience to check them on every page I read.
But in general it's just too much information, with numerous very similar examples used to bolster each point made. Poetry is quoted on almost every page (or at least it feels that way after you finish the book, but none of it was moving, and the quotes are mostly snippets. They serve, perhaps, more to glorify the author than entertain the reader.
I also lost patience with the effort to link the river with a kind of mystical or religious sense. I'm comfortable with a river having a major impact on commerce, politics, and perhaps even culture. But I am not convinced that the Thames possesses a distinctive individual character which has shaped the theology and emotions of the people who live near it.
I don't read much non-fiction these days, so it's perhaps my shortcoming that I miss having at least some kind of story line. The 441-page book has 45 chapters, so most are pretty brief. There is a logical sequence no doubt in the author's mind, but it read to me like a fairly random parade of subjects.
This book will be most entertaining for individuals who really know the geography of the Thames Valley. I know London well enough that the references to the various towns in that area were more interesting to me. But I got lost in the innumerable references to smaller places with which I was unfamiliar. There are a lot of maps (the best ones are hidden at the end, by the way) but I did not have the patience to check them on every page I read.
June 7, 2009
Ackroyd's The Thames is a love poem to the river. Instead of a linear history, which undoubtably would've made the book dull, Ackroyd sections the chapters by theme; there is a chapter on the river and death, on fishing, on wildlife and so on. This structure makes the book far more easy and interesting to read.
Ackroyd tells stories about the river, for instance a swimming race between a man and a dog; or about the wreck of the Princess Alice and the connection one of the survivors has to Jack the Ripper. Combined with the stories are Ackroyd's own wonderful and at times poetic observations. He writes, "The birds of the sea do not sing. Many of the birds of the river do sing. It may be that they imitate the flowing sound of the river. Perhaps they are singing to the river. Perhaps gulls do not sing to the sea". It's the type of passage that you once realize contains a truth.
A nice addition to the book is the alternate topography where Ackroyd takes the villages and places along the river's route and gives a brief description. In this section, we learn that Fair Rosamund (Henry II's mistress) died in Godstow and her coffin was later used to line a path. We learn about the sad, and yet amusing, fate of Thomas Day.
If you like England, this book is well worth reading.
Ackroyd tells stories about the river, for instance a swimming race between a man and a dog; or about the wreck of the Princess Alice and the connection one of the survivors has to Jack the Ripper. Combined with the stories are Ackroyd's own wonderful and at times poetic observations. He writes, "The birds of the sea do not sing. Many of the birds of the river do sing. It may be that they imitate the flowing sound of the river. Perhaps they are singing to the river. Perhaps gulls do not sing to the sea". It's the type of passage that you once realize contains a truth.
A nice addition to the book is the alternate topography where Ackroyd takes the villages and places along the river's route and gives a brief description. In this section, we learn that Fair Rosamund (Henry II's mistress) died in Godstow and her coffin was later used to line a path. We learn about the sad, and yet amusing, fate of Thomas Day.
If you like England, this book is well worth reading.
August 23, 2009
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.
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.
March 12, 2011
I think it is difficult to stand on the bank of the Thames and not feel what a presence it is. I have spent hours walking along it and sitting on its shore, and I am always struck by how much history has occurred within reach of those waters.
Peter Ackroyd's The Thames: Sacred River does a terrific job capturing that immense history. Following the same format he used in his earlier biography of London, Ackroyd examines the Thames from all angles: geological, cultural, historical, and more. The result is a book crammed full of anecdotes, history, and trivia, and is a fascinating read. From the story behind "London bridge is falling down" to learning whose head was the first displayed beside the river in modern times (William Wallace) to discovering how a river that was so polluted it had to be avoided became the cleanest metropolitan river in the world, every page in this book has something to share.
I have always been fascinated by the Thames, long before I first stood beside it, and I am sure that is part of why I loved this book. However, even if you've never breathed in the peculiar smelling river, I think this book would appeal to anyone who loves history and is interested in how nature and man interact.
Peter Ackroyd's The Thames: Sacred River does a terrific job capturing that immense history. Following the same format he used in his earlier biography of London, Ackroyd examines the Thames from all angles: geological, cultural, historical, and more. The result is a book crammed full of anecdotes, history, and trivia, and is a fascinating read. From the story behind "London bridge is falling down" to learning whose head was the first displayed beside the river in modern times (William Wallace) to discovering how a river that was so polluted it had to be avoided became the cleanest metropolitan river in the world, every page in this book has something to share.
I have always been fascinated by the Thames, long before I first stood beside it, and I am sure that is part of why I loved this book. However, even if you've never breathed in the peculiar smelling river, I think this book would appeal to anyone who loves history and is interested in how nature and man interact.
April 21, 2020
This was a hard book to finish. It should have been fascinating, but somehow it turned out to be very dry - ironic since it is about a river. I read a review that said it seemed as though the author threw in every fact he found during his extensive research. I agree. Much as I love English history, I really don't want to know the dedications of all the churches local to the Thames. The whole structure of the book seems unwieldy. It does not progress historically or geographically but is divided into fairly random sections. Thus the foulness and pollution of recent centuries is described (6 inches of sewage caked the shores as far upriver as Teddington Lock in the middle of the nineteenth century, with thousands of deaths from cholera), followed by a section detailing the "healing water"of regeneration and purity just 10 pages later. Also the maps are less than adequate and he talks about paintings that are not pictured in the illustrations provided. Yes, I know I can look them up on the interweb, but still..
I struggled through it because there are interesting sections, but it has taken 7 weeks of effort. Disappointing.
I struggled through it because there are interesting sections, but it has taken 7 weeks of effort. Disappointing.
January 3, 2019
The author Peter Ackroyd was introduced to me by the Bowie Book Club, after reading Hawksmoor which was a stunner of a read I read another book of his...This book has some great writing but basically it's dry as a bone and since I almost always finish books I start it is agony getting through it. Its like reading the telephone book from beginning to end. I've learned a lot about the Thames river though. It is a meticulous, comprehensive, historical, thematic, poetic and well researched historical work. It does not fit into the textbook category however as sources are so diverse. Ackroyd acknowledges spiritual elements and always identifies and romanticizes human- environmental links. He overreaches for meaning at times but without the esoteric elements this book would have killed me. I read it for pure mental discipline reasons not for enjoyment
March 8, 2016
Certainly impressively researched and impeccably structured, Ackroyd's meandering meditation on the river that bisects lower England and the localities affected by its characteristics is nothing short of - the word so often used - magisterial. There will never be another book like this on the river Thames and the - birth to death, beginning to end structure -impact on its surrounding people and inhabitants.
Ultimately, it was an informative and worthwhile read. But it often felt more like a chore than a pleasure. Readers unfamiliar with Thames estuary place names will feel particularly drowned by the excess of detail. It's a good book, even an interesting and necessary one. Just not always as fun as a dip in the water.
Ultimately, it was an informative and worthwhile read. But it often felt more like a chore than a pleasure. Readers unfamiliar with Thames estuary place names will feel particularly drowned by the excess of detail. It's a good book, even an interesting and necessary one. Just not always as fun as a dip in the water.
December 26, 2016
I really didn't get this book. It wasn't detailed enough to be classed as a history, it was too personal to be a travel book and too pragmatic to be poetic. In the end it read like a collection of anecdotes, collected by theme but not rigorously researched. It ranged widely from artistic impressions of the river, the economic history and a description of the route to a discussion of infamous murders, famous figures associated with the Thames and a discussion on the religious aspects of the river. Perhaps the title of the book lead me to expect something else but I came away disappointed and wanting more substance and detail.
April 20, 2014
I wanted to love this as I do the Thames itself, but Ackroyd jumps around and belabours his analogies to the point that it's hard to digest in more than bite sizes. Worth a look for those who love London and it's environs - and who have a connection with this artery of commerce, history and adventure that meanders through the heart of the metropolis - but be warned it will be a trip against the tide for the most part.
May 31, 2015
I have always liked Peter Ackroyd’s writing and feasted on London: The Biography.
This however is disappointing. Full of facts, supposition, myth and mystery but thrown together in a mélange of stuff that lacks cohesion. What it lacks in structure it makes up for in bulk.
Never mind the quality, feel the width.
This however is disappointing. Full of facts, supposition, myth and mystery but thrown together in a mélange of stuff that lacks cohesion. What it lacks in structure it makes up for in bulk.
Never mind the quality, feel the width.
December 27, 2010
At times, unlike the river, this book never seemed to go anywhere. Some interesting facts, a few good yarns, but too much flowing back and forth over the same ground; Ackroyd might have heeded Heraclitus' words - and then ignored them.
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