A review by softsappho
Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day by Peter Ackroyd

2.0

Overall disappointing. The author promises an extensive, well rounded history of queerness in London but fails to deliver any sort of coherent narrative. The book reads like a long list of facts, and historical tidbits, straining to be held together by intermittent, tabloid-esque retellings of crude scandals clearly chosen for shock value. The storytelling approach favors an outside in perspective placing the emphasis on the negative views of lgbtq+ people by outsiders rather than giving the reader any insight into the queer community itself. I kept hoping for some sort of empathetic insight into the lived experiences of queer people of the times (records do exist the author even cites some but fails to use them to draw any coherent conclusions for some reason?) or any sign that the author might veer away from the litany of graphic scandals but eventually gave up about 2/3 of the way through because I found the book intolerably boring, depressing, and unpleasant. I skimmed the remaining pages and from what I gathered it didn’t get any better.