The Thames has been a highway, a frontier and an attack route; it has been a playground and a sewer, a source of water and a source of power. Every stretch has its own character, atmosphere and stories. Idealised images of English life - thatched cottages, village greens and hedged fields - were born from the landscape of the Thames. Thames: Sacred River explores the river from source to sea - from flora and fauna, hauntings and suicides to paintings and photographs it has inspired. Peter Ackroyd, bestselling author of London: The Biography, tells the story of the river and the people who have lived on and by it over the centuries, uncovering fascinating and sometimes surprising facts and details as he delves into the river's geology, history, trade, weather and architecture as well as its people, literature, landscapes, mythology and magic.