Since the publication of his award-winning novel Hawksmoor in 1985, Peter Ackroyd has established himself as one of the most versatile and prolific contemporary writers. In this, the first full-length study of his work, Susana Onega sets out to assess how successful Ackroyd has been in revitalizing the English cultural tradition by looking at the entire range of Ackroyd's writings and examining such issues as his fictional treatment of London, his recovery of the English Catholic cultural tradition, and his self-conscious re-writing of history.