---
product_id: 60059121
title: "Blake: A Biography"
brand: "peter ackroyd"
price: "€ 90.80"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.nl/products/60059121-blake-a-biography
store_origin: NL
region: Netherlands
---

# Blake: A Biography

**Brand:** peter ackroyd
**Price:** € 90.80
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Blake: A Biography by peter ackroyd
- **How much does it cost?** € 90.80 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nl](https://www.desertcart.nl/products/60059121-blake-a-biography)

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- peter ackroyd enthusiasts

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## Description

Blake: A Biography

## Images

![Blake: A Biography - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51TQD6cx3nL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Extremely well done account of William Blake
  

*by G***G on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 29, 2016*

“Blake: A Biography” is classic Peter 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. 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 Dickens, T.S. Eliot, Sir Isaac Newton, Edgar Allen Poe, Geoffrey Chaucer, J.M.W. Turner and Shakespeare. And William Blake.Ackroyd gives us Blake in his historical context, and “historical” is defined in its broadest terms – historical, philosophical, literary, social, and economic.We see Blake growing up in a “Dissenting” household (people who did not belong to the Church of England). We’re walking with him on a London street when he gets caught up in the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots that led to looting and the destruction of Newgate Prison (nine years before the Bastille was stormed in Paris). We discover that London always seemed like a riot waiting to happen, and that public licentiousness at all class levels was common. We rub shoulders with the artists and poets who were his friends, and those who thought he was more than slightly mad.This is where Ackroyd excels as a writer, allowing us to imagine what it was like to be William Blake, and how his personal life and the times in which he lived shaped and directed his art and his poetry. Here, for example, is a poem from Blake’s notebook, written in 1792 when the fear of the French Revolution had reached levels of near hysteria in London and the king had stationed Prussian mercenary troops in and around the city:I wander thro each dirty streetNear where the dirty Thames does flowAnd see in every face I meetMarks of weakness marks of woeIn every cry of every manIn every voice of every childIn every voice in every banThe german forged links I hearBut most the chimney sweepers cryBlackens oer the chuches wallsAnd the hapless soldiers sighRuns in blood down palace walls“Blake: A Biography” is a fascinating account, meticulously researched and extraordinarily well written.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Great Historical/Literary review
  

*by A***N on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 18, 2011*

William Blake is a very complex and infuriating character. I was first introduced to him by the rock group the Doors with their song "End of the Night" and loved "Jerusalem" a poem put to music by Sir Hubert Parry.I've always been intrigued by William Blakes poem the "Auguries of Innocence" but also infuriated by the banal and clumsy lines in it. I love the following lines:"Every day and every morn a child is born, some are born to sweet delight, some are born to sweet delight, some are born to endless night."This book helps to explain the meaning of some of Blakes poems and the context of his spiritual beliefs, influenced by Emanuel Swedenborg. I like history so enjoyed the historical detail.This book would not be acceptable as the basis of an essay on literary criticism of Blake at University level.I'ts very enjoyable to read.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Super fast shipping and quality
  

*by A***R on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 18, 2022*

Super fast shipping and quality was as described! Will buy again from them!

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*Product available on Desertcart Netherlands*
*Store origin: NL*
*Last updated: 2026-02-20*