
Queer City
Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.28
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Will Watt
-
By:
-
Peter Ackroyd
About this listen
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 PressListeners also enjoyed...
-
An African American and Latinx History of the United States
- By: Paul Ortiz
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spanning more than 200 years, An African American and Latinx History of the United States is a revolutionary, politically charged narrative history arguing that the "Global South" was crucial to the development of America as we know it. Ortiz challenges the notion of westward progress, and shows how placing African American, Latinx, and Indigenous voices unapologetically front and center transforms American history into the story of the working class organizing against imperialism.
-
-
I had to return
- By Andrew Alvarez on 05-19-20
By: Paul Ortiz
-
London
- The Biography
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 32 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London: The Biography is the pinnacle of Peter Ackroyd's brilliant obsession with the eponymous city. In this unusual and engaging work, Ackroyd brings the listener through time into the city whose institutions and idiosyncrasies have permeated much of his works of fiction and nonfiction. Peter Ackroyd sees London as a living, breathing organism, with its own laws of growth and change.
-
-
Great Book
- By Joann on 01-04-21
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Gay New York
- Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940
- By: George Chauncey
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gay New York brilliantly shatters the myth that before the 1960s gay life existed only in the closet, where gay men were isolated, invisible, and self-hating. Drawing on a rich trove of diaries, legal records, and other unpublished documents, George Chauncey constructs a fascinating portrait of a vibrant, cohesive gay world that is not supposed to have existed. Gay New York forever changed how we think about the history of gay life in New York City, and beyond.
-
-
An Eye Opening History!
- By Nelson on 04-26-22
By: George Chauncey
-
The Life of Thomas More
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Life of Thomas More went straight to #1 on the London Times best seller list when published in the United Kingdom. It remained in that position for over a month, garnering the kind of praise that is rarely given. Thomas More was not only a great man of the church, he was also arguably the most brilliant lawyer the English-speaking world has ever known.
-
-
One of the hardest audiobooks I've ever finished
- By S. Marshall Priddy on 05-21-18
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Secret City
- The Hidden History of Gay Washington
- By: James Kirchick
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 26 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, the specter of homosexuality haunted Washington. The mere suggestion that a person might be gay destroyed reputations, ended careers, and ruined lives. At the height of the Cold War, fear of homosexuality became intertwined with the growing threat of international communism, leading to a purge of gay men and lesbians from the federal government. In the fevered atmosphere of political Washington, the secret “too loathsome to mention” held enormous, terrifying power.
-
-
Exhausting snd enraging and disappointing
- By Frequent shopper! on 07-16-22
By: James Kirchick
-
Foundation
- The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors: The History of England, Book 1
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Foundation the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, in 1509. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past - a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house.
-
-
The Most Annoying Narrator EVER
- By JudieBee on 12-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
An African American and Latinx History of the United States
- By: Paul Ortiz
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spanning more than 200 years, An African American and Latinx History of the United States is a revolutionary, politically charged narrative history arguing that the "Global South" was crucial to the development of America as we know it. Ortiz challenges the notion of westward progress, and shows how placing African American, Latinx, and Indigenous voices unapologetically front and center transforms American history into the story of the working class organizing against imperialism.
-
-
I had to return
- By Andrew Alvarez on 05-19-20
By: Paul Ortiz
-
London
- The Biography
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 32 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London: The Biography is the pinnacle of Peter Ackroyd's brilliant obsession with the eponymous city. In this unusual and engaging work, Ackroyd brings the listener through time into the city whose institutions and idiosyncrasies have permeated much of his works of fiction and nonfiction. Peter Ackroyd sees London as a living, breathing organism, with its own laws of growth and change.
-
-
Great Book
- By Joann on 01-04-21
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Gay New York
- Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940
- By: George Chauncey
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gay New York brilliantly shatters the myth that before the 1960s gay life existed only in the closet, where gay men were isolated, invisible, and self-hating. Drawing on a rich trove of diaries, legal records, and other unpublished documents, George Chauncey constructs a fascinating portrait of a vibrant, cohesive gay world that is not supposed to have existed. Gay New York forever changed how we think about the history of gay life in New York City, and beyond.
-
-
An Eye Opening History!
- By Nelson on 04-26-22
By: George Chauncey
-
The Life of Thomas More
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Life of Thomas More went straight to #1 on the London Times best seller list when published in the United Kingdom. It remained in that position for over a month, garnering the kind of praise that is rarely given. Thomas More was not only a great man of the church, he was also arguably the most brilliant lawyer the English-speaking world has ever known.
-
-
One of the hardest audiobooks I've ever finished
- By S. Marshall Priddy on 05-21-18
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Secret City
- The Hidden History of Gay Washington
- By: James Kirchick
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 26 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, the specter of homosexuality haunted Washington. The mere suggestion that a person might be gay destroyed reputations, ended careers, and ruined lives. At the height of the Cold War, fear of homosexuality became intertwined with the growing threat of international communism, leading to a purge of gay men and lesbians from the federal government. In the fevered atmosphere of political Washington, the secret “too loathsome to mention” held enormous, terrifying power.
-
-
Exhausting snd enraging and disappointing
- By Frequent shopper! on 07-16-22
By: James Kirchick
-
Foundation
- The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors: The History of England, Book 1
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Foundation the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, in 1509. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past - a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house.
-
-
The Most Annoying Narrator EVER
- By JudieBee on 12-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Shakespeare
- The Biography
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 19 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only Peter Ackroyd can combine narrative and unique observation with a sharp eye for the fascinating fact. His method is to position Shakespeare in the close context of his world. In this way, he not only richly conjures up the texture of Shakespeare’s life, but also imparts an amazing amount of vivid, interesting material about place, period and background.
-
-
Shakespeare by Peter Ackroyd
- By Four Bears on 10-16-06
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Venice
- Pure City
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Venetians' language and way of thinking set them aside from the rest of Italy. They are an island people, linked to the sea and to the tides rather than the land. This latest work from the incomparable Peter Ackroyd, like a magic gondola, transports its listeners to that sensual and surprising city. His account embraces facts and romance, conjuring up the atmosphere of the canals, bridges, and sunlit squares, the churches and the markets, the festivals and the flowers.
-
-
An endless droning list.....
- By jack on 03-15-11
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
When Brooklyn Was Queer
- By: Hugh Ryan
- Narrated by: Hugh Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hugh Ryan's When Brooklyn Was Queer is a groundbreaking exploration of the LGBT history of Brooklyn, from the early days of Walt Whitman in the 1850s up through the queer women who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II, and beyond. In intimate, evocative, moving prose, Ryan brings this never-before-told story of Brooklyn's vibrant and forgotten queer history to life.
-
-
A Love Letter
- By Randy on 06-26-19
By: Hugh Ryan
-
Ghost Stories: Stephen Fry's Definitive Collection
- By: Stephen Fry, Washington Irving, M.R. James, and others
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, Halloween approaches. Come, brave listener, pull up a chair, and spend some time with master storyteller Stephen Fry as he tells us some of his favourite ghost stories of all time, in truly terrifying spatial audio. From the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow to the tortured spirits of M.R. James, from Edgar Allan Poe’s terrifying tale of a doppelganger to Charlotte Riddell’s Open Door that should definitely stay shut, join Stephen as he tells you some truly terrifying tales.
-
-
Wonderful narration. Mediocre stories.
- By Michael Fuchs on 11-07-23
By: Stephen Fry, and others
-
Bad Gays
- A Homosexual History
- By: Huw Lemmey, Ben Miller
- Narrated by: Ben Allen
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We all remember Oscar Wilde, but who speaks for Bosie? What about those 'bad gays' whose un-exemplary lives reveal more than we might expect? Too many popular histories seek to establish heroes, pioneers and martyrs but, as Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller argue, the past is filled with queer people whose sexualities and dastardly deeds have been overlooked. Based on the hugely popular podcast series, Bad Gays subverts the notion of gay icons and queer heroes and asks what we can learn about LGBTQ+ history, sexuality and identity through its villains and baddies.
-
-
Stick with the history
- By John Bryan on 03-11-23
By: Huw Lemmey, and others
-
Shakespeare
- The World as Stage
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Shakespeare, the most celebrated poet in the English language, left behind nearly a million words of text, but his biography has long been a thicket of wild supposition arranged around scant facts. With a steady hand and his trademark wit, Bill Bryson sorts through this colorful muddle to reveal the man himself.
-
-
Too Little, Too Short
- By Charles L. Burkins on 11-30-07
By: Bill Bryson
-
Gay Bar
- Why We Went Out
- By: Jeremy Atherton Lin
- Narrated by: Jeremy Atherton Lin
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the era of Grindr and same-sex marriage, gay bars are closing down at an alarming rate. What, then, was the gay bar? Set between Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London, Gay Bar takes us on a time-traveling, transatlantic bar hop through pulsing nightclubs, after-work dives, hardcore leather bars, gay cafes, and saunas, asking what these places meant to their original clientele, what they meant to the author as a younger man, and what they mean now.
-
-
Gay Bar : A Review
- By Anonymous User on 05-17-21
-
The Deviant's War
- The Homosexual vs. the United States of America
- By: Eric Cervini
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 15 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1957, Frank Kameny, a rising astronomer working for the US Military in Hawaii, received a summons to report immediately to Washington, DC. The Pentagon had reason to believe he was a homosexual, and after a series of humiliating interviews, Kameny - like gay men and women for generations - was promptly dismissed from the military. Unlike many others, though, Kameny fought back.
-
-
Big Surprise
- By elwood on 08-01-20
By: Eric Cervini
-
Transgender History, Second Edition
- The Roots of Today's Revolution
- By: Susan Stryker
- Narrated by: Emily Cauldwell
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Covering American transgender history from the mid-20th century to today, Transgender History takes a chronological approach to the subject of transgender history, with each chapter covering major movements, writings, and events.
-
-
something for everyone to learn
- By Nick G on 03-12-19
By: Susan Stryker
-
Hi Honey, I'm Homo!
- Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture
- By: Matt Baume
- Narrated by: Matt Baume
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From flamboyant relatives on Bewitched to closely-guarded secrets on All in the Family, from network-censor fights over Soap to behind-the-scenes activism on the set of The Golden Girls, from Ellen’s culture clash to Modern Family’s primetime power-couple, Hi Honey, I’m Homo! is the story not only of how subversive queer comedy transformed the American sitcom, from its inception through today, but how our favorite sitcoms transformed, and continue to transform, America.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Sage on 07-14-23
By: Matt Baume
-
I Was Better Last Night
- A Memoir
- By: Harvey Fierstein
- Narrated by: Harvey Fierstein
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harvey Fierstein’s legendary career has transported him from community theater in Brooklyn, to the lights of Broadway, to the absurd excesses of Hollywood and back. He’s received accolades and awards for acting in and/or writing an incredible string of hit plays, films, and TV shows.
-
-
Loved it
- By Mary Ellen Guadagno on 03-09-22
By: Harvey Fierstein
-
The Velvet Rage
- Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man's World
- By: Alan Downs Ph. D
- Narrated by: Alan Downs Ph. D
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The most important issue in a gay man’s life is not “coming out”, but coming to terms with the invalidating past. Despite the progress made in recent years, many gay men still wonder, “Are we better off?” The byproduct of growing up gay in a straight world continues to be the internalization of shame, rejection, and anger - a toxic cocktail that can lead to drug abuse, promiscuity, alcoholism, depression, and suicide.
-
-
Must read for any gay man
- By Matthew Phelps on 08-30-12
By: Alan Downs Ph. D
What listeners say about Queer City
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stuart Shulman
- 07-19-20
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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Franklin
- 10-13-18
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. 🏳️🌈
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David D
- 11-29-22
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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Madeira Darling
- 07-05-18
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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ananias
- 05-15-21
A giddy romp through rape and abuse
This isn't a history of gay relationships as much as it is a catalog of disturbing abuses of power read as if it were harmless titillation. I was putting up with the disgustingly happy recounting of child abuse until I started looking into the underlying scholarship and found it lacking. The author doesn't bother tracing his sources or judging their reliability. It's all written on the level of a buzzfeed article. Decent enough if you know absolutely nothing I suppose, but because the author is dodgy at exactly where he is getting his information, it's hard to even use this as a springboard for further research.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful