Queer City

Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day

De: Peter Ackroyd

Narrado por: Will Watt

In Queer City, the acclaimed Peter Ackroyd looks at London in a whole new way - through the complete history and experiences of its gay and lesbian population. In Roman Londinium, the city was dotted with lupanaria (“wolf dens” or public pleasure houses), fornices (brothels), and thermiae (hot baths). Then came the Emperor Constantine, with his bishops, monks, and missionaries. And so began an endless loop of alternating permissiveness and censure. Ackroyd takes us right into the hidden history of the city; from the notorious Normans to the frenzy of executions for sodomy in the early 19th century. He journeys through the coffee bars of 60s Soho to gay liberation, disco music, and the horror of AIDS. Ackroyd reveals the hidden story of London, with its diversity, thrills, and energy, as well as its terrors, dangers, and risks, and in doing so, explains the origins of all English-speaking gay culture.

©2018 Peter Ackroyd (P)2018 Abrams Press

Excellent History, Less Convincing Commentary

I would have loved to give this book five stars. As a history, it is excellent, and the earlier chapters—roughly up to chapter 17—are fascinating, informative and very well told. The problems begin when the author moves away from history and increasingly into cultural commentary.

Towards the end, he seems to lament the fact that LGBT people have become too mainstream, too respectable and, in his eyes, perhaps too boring. There is an underlying assumption that queer people ought to remain radical or countercultural. But this overlooks an obvious possibility: perhaps LGBT people were historically radical because they had to be. When society excludes you, criminalises you or forces you underground, simply surviving openly becomes a radical act. Once those barriers begin to fall, it is perfectly understandable that many people simply want ordinary lives. There is nothing inherently disappointing about wanting to be normal.

What particularly bothered me is how little attention the book gives to the very different experiences of LGBT people within modern London's increasingly diverse religious and ethnic communities. The difficulties faced by gay Muslims, for example, barely register. This seems a remarkable omission in a book about queer London. The author mourns the supposed loss of a rebellious gay culture while paying surprisingly little attention to people for whom coming out can still carry very serious social and familial consequences.

By the final chapters, the book begins to feel less like the excellent history that preceded them and more like an argument from queer theory about how younger generations have supposedly become too conventional. I simply don't think this is where the author is at his strongest. When he is writing history, the book is superb. When he starts judging what contemporary LGBT people ought to be, it becomes much less convincing.

A fascinating and often brilliant history, but for me the final chapters prevent it from being a five-star book.

Another Masterpiece

I have been reading as many books by Peter Ackroyd as possible. They are all wonderful works. This audiobook was no exception. The reading was top notch and I listened with great interest to every nuance.

Interesting and insightful

Peter Ackroyd writes an interesting book chock full of details about queer people that populated London. He writes about what is what like for queer men and women to live and survive in metropolitan London. Will Watt brings a studious book to life with his excellent performance and the variety of voices throughout the book. Will makes the book fascinating, funny and sad in various measures.

Be Gay, Do Crimes: A History

I began listening to this audiobook for some research. It quickly evolved into bingeing this book to which I think everyone should listen. The narrator is truly excellent; you can practically hear his coy smirking. One could easily retitle this history as "Be Gay, Do Crimes: A History". I've learned an incredible amount and been entertained all the way, all while finding a new connection to my queer ancestors I never knew before. 11/10 Will read again and again and again. 🏳️‍🌈

Fascinating and informative

I love this book, although it's obviously very much a survey and a pop history, it includes loads of information that make for great jumping off points for further research. The reader's voice is lovely and he reads at just the right pace though the audio did seem to repeat now and then at occasional points in the text. Lots of fun, lots of great historical anecdotes that give one a greater appreciation for gay history.