Peter Ackroyd

Kirsty Young's castaway is the novelist, historian and biographer, Peter Ackroyd.

As a child he used to walk the streets of London with his grandmother - an experience that, he believes, fostered his own love for the city. He was appointed literary editor of The Spectator when he was just 23 and has gone on to write dozens of books since. He has written a biography of London, as well as books about people he calls 'cockney visionaries' such as Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins and, now, Charlie Chaplin. Yet, of the work he's produced so far, he says: "Every book for me is a chapter in the long book which will finally be closed on the day of my death. So that final book is the one which gives me a sense of achievement."

Choices

1.

The Kingsmen

Louie Louie

Composer: Richard Berry

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2.

Castaway's favourite

Lipton / Murphy

Oh! Oh! Antonio

Artist: Florrie Forde

3.

Fats Waller

Where is the Sun?

Composer: Redmond & David

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4.

The Sixteen led by Harry Christophers

Spem in Alium

5.

Ludwig van Beethoven

String Quartet in B flat, Sixth Movement: Grosse Fuge, Op. 133

Artist: The Lindsays

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6.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Mass in B Minor

Artist: The King’s Consort and choir conducted by Robert King

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7.

Antonin Dvorak

Serenade for strings in E, Op. 22, Moderato

Artist: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis

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8.

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev

Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf

Artist: Sir John Gielgud narrator, Academy of London conducted by Richard Stamp

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Book

Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis

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Luxury item

Pen and paper

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