The Great Fire of London (novel)


The Great Fire of London is a novel by the English author Peter Ackroyd.
Published in 1982, it is Ackroyd's first novel. It established themes which Ackroyd returns to again and again in his fiction: London, English literature and the intertwining 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.