Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notes for a New Culture | 1976 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 2 | Dressing Up | 1979 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 3 | Ezra Pound and His World | 1980 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 4 | T.S. Eliot | 1984 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 5 | Dickens’ London | 1987 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 6 | Introduction to Dickens | 1991 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 7 | The Life of Thomas More | 1991 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 8 | Blake | 1995 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 9 | London: The Biography | 2000 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 10 | The Collection | 2001 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 11 | Dickens: Public Life and Private Passion | 2002 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 12 | Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination | 2002 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 13 | Illustrated London | 2003 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 14 | A Traveller’s Companion to London | 2004 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 15 | Shakespeare: The Biography | 2005 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 16 | The Thames: Sacred River | 2007 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 17 | Venice: Pure City | 2007 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 18 | A Brief Guide to William Shakespeare | 2010 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 19 | The English Ghost | 2010 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 20 | London Under | 2011 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 21 | Queer City | 2017 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 22 | Colours of London | 2022 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 23 | The English Actor: From Medieval to Modern | 2023 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 24 | The English Soul | 2024 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
| 25 | Forgotten London | 2025 | Peter Ackroyd | Buy |
Peter Ackroyd’s non-fiction catalog is extensive, with 25 titles published between 1976 and 2025. The books cover literary biography (T.S. Eliot, Dickens, Blake, Shakespeare), cultural history (Albion, The English Ghost), and his specialty: the history of London.
London: The Biography (2000) is his most famous non-fiction work, a thematic exploration of the city he has spent his career writing about. Other London-focused titles include London Under (2011), which explores the city’s underground history, Queer City (2017), and the recent Colours of London (2022) and Forgotten London (2025). His work on Venice: Pure City (2007) and The Thames: Sacred River (2007) shows he occasionally looks beyond the city limits.