Peter Ackroyd

All cities are impressive in their way, because they represent the aspiration of men to lead a common life; those people who wish to live agreeable lives, and in constant intercourse with one another, will build a city as beautiful as Paris. Those whose relations are founded principally upon commerce and upon the ferocious claims of domestic privacy will build a city as ugly and as unwieldy as London. Show less «

London has always provided the landscape for my imagination. It becomes a character - a living being - within each of my books. Show less «