''The Great Fire of London'' is a novel by the English author

Peter Ackroyd Peter Ackroyd (born 5 October 1949) is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a specialist interest in the history and culture of London. For his novels about English history and culture and his biographies of, among others, William ...

. Published in 1982, it is Ackroyd's first novel. It established themes which Ackroyd returns to again and again in his fiction:

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, English literature and the intertwining (and blurring) of literary, historical and contemporary events.

Critical reception

The novel received generally positive reviews on its publication, although many reviewers have subsequently reassessed it in the light of '' Hawksmoor'' three years later, which had a similar focus albeit with a different historical perspective. Ackroyd however has dismissed the novel outright.

References

1982 British novels Novels set in London Novels by Peter Ackroyd Hamish Hamilton books 1982 debut novels {{1980s-novel-stub