“Those in their snug Bed-chambers may call the Fears of Night meer Bugbears, but their Minds have not pierced into the Horror of the World which others, who are adrift upon it, know.”

English novelist, biographer and critic

Peter Ackroyd is an English novelist, biographer and critic, known for his work on the history and culture of London. He has built a large body of work and is widely noted for technically inventive fiction. His writing ranges across different styles, and he is praised for the way he can take on varied voices while drawing on deep research. That combination has made him a distinctive presence in contemporary English letters, with work that moves between invention, biography and literary criticism.