William blake biography peter aykroyd image

British writer, historian, biographer and novelist Peter Ackroyd, and Harvard professor Leo Damrosch, have both written studies of the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827).

This biography by Peter Ackroyd is very detailed and gives the reader a thorough insight of William Blake's life from early childhood, family relations, his.

Although the two works are separated by 20 years (Ackroyd’s in 1995 and Damrosch’s in 2015), they form a cohesive understanding of Blake and his work. Damrosch used Ackroyd’s biography in his own research, and calls it one of the best ever written about Blake.

Blake: A Biography is classic Ackroyd, whom we in the United States would call a popular as opposed to academic writer but who occupies a different position in Britain.

Amateur historian and biographer he may be, but few living writers today can equal his output, erudition, and insight. He’s in the process of writing a multi-volume history of England.

Ackroyd emphasizes Blake the visionary Londoner, like Turner or Dickens, and convincingly relates the poet's work to the social upheavals of his time.

Ackroyd is one of those writers who encaptures the whole picture, rather than just one part of it, and his chronicling of Blake's life and works is interesting.

Review.

Blake: A Biography by Ackroyd, Peter and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at

Blake.

He’s written three novels. He’s retold the stories of the legend of King Arthur and The Canterbury Tales. And he’s written biographies of Charles Dick