London's Underground: The Story of the Tube

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Highly commendable" Oxfordshire Family History Society - Oxfordshire Family Historian, Volume 37, No.1, April 2023

They will love it for its photographs which are to a very high standard, the book's design and the well written short histories of lost parts of the London underground transport empire. Published by Yale University Press, my quibbles over a typo and some minor editorial lapses may be passed over. Carmen Kingsley, an archaeologist with the British Museum. A specialist in the Tudor era, she is in charge of all the archaeological digs in the city. Carmen is on the Asperger’s spectrum but is high-functioning. In their earliest diagrams the companies that became London Underground imposed their lines on a “base map” showing the local streets. But realistic geography faded away as the lines promoted their own concept of themselves. For example, on maps of Metroland, the suburb created by the Metropolitan Railway, golf clubs loomed disproportionately. Scurrying rats that produce feelings of revulsion or queasiness. A young colleague, Norman, is asked to explain to Julia the “rat facts”: “There are an estimated three rats for every human in London. There are tens of millions of rats. You are probably never more than three feet from a rat at any time. There are 4000 rats born in London every hour. They are incredibly prolific.” Later, Carmen falls through a crumbling floor that is the ceiling to another tunnel below. There are piles of dead rats and filth, it is a scene of unrelieved horror. Not much later the two young women make a gruesome discovery in an unexplored passageway: it is the body of the dead Norman. Highlight: 'This is a great reference work on a subject that I certainly never realised had such a big story behind it.' Railways IllustratedThe book moves on to the Picadilly Circus complex, Down Street and its role as the wartime railway executive's headquarters and the first of two overground stories with an account of the modernist 55 Broadway headquarters of the underground system built in 1929. This book was a real pleasure to read, greatly exceeding my expectations and will be warmly recommended to family and friends, in fact, to anyone who has travelled in London or would like to one day. This book will make a journey in London, be it for business or pleasure, a much richer and satisfying experience.

An exploration of the abandoned tributaries of London’s vast and vital transportation network through breathtaking images and unexpected stories

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A fascinating book, likely to be of interest to anyone travelling on the London Underground. The history and information in this book will enrich passengers journeys and cause some reflection or admiration for how it came to be. And where it may go in the future. I wish the author and publishers all the very best with this wonderful, engaging and informative book. NetGalley, Lachlan Finlayson The method is to take an Underground location as the type of a theme, tell its tale and add details and material from other similar locations. It is definitely not a narrative history of the London Underground but rather a series of localised narratives that give us a rounded picture of the whole. The book is really a popular summation of the recent work of the London Transport Museum which may be classed as archaeological, historical and sometimes selectively conservationist although the budgetary implications of full conservation would be too great for the creaking system to bear.

If you’re like me and you feel like your life won’t be complete without gaining knowledge about London Tube to use in very random conversations, this book is perfect for you! Well, you could also be a fan of transportation or maps and like it! NetGalley, Gabriela Gorniak Then we have the hinge of British recent history - the war - where the underground had a double function of protecting the people from air warfare and ensuring that the state administration and war effort could run unhindered by turning tunnels into administrative and control assets. Throughout, the illustrations are a pleasure in themselves, whether pictures of decay that evoke the world of the horror film 'Death Line', photographs, charts, posters or plans. Abandoned tunnels litter the London beneath its inhabitants, some I have walked in abandoned within my memory.

This is a book that I shall keep and refer to many times. I really do recommend it for anyone with an interest in transport history – and not just London: Roope has some shrewd comments about the nationwide Beeching cuts of the 1960s. NetGalley, Colin Edwards The world's first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway, which opened in 1863, is now part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines; the first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2014-15 carried 1.305 billion passengers, making it the world's 11th busiest metro system.

This extraordinarily well-illustrated book is much more than its title suggests........This is a very important contribution to how we understand what the London Underground has given to the metropolis, much more than just its internationally recognised ‘map’. The Historian – Autumn 2022 The History of the London Underground Map takes you through a very accessible history of the London Underground, in addition to the development of its iconic map. This book is an essential addition to anyone interested in the development of London's Underground system and its famous map. NetGalley, David Styles Nearly all are still in some sort of use, even if temporary in many cases - for ventilation, storage, as film sets or as service corridors. Others really are ghosts to which access is difficult - in the case of Highgate banned in part not because of the military-industrial complex but to protect rare bats. I was expecting the book's focus to be solely on the history of the map; however, this book actually looks at the entire history of the network, spanning its inception, construction. I think it's a richer read for exploring the wider history to understand and explain decisions. As the complexities of the plot work themselves out, we encounter a long list of characters. Some surface in August 1944 as World War II continues to rage in the skies of London. Others appear in the present.To sum up, this book is a fantastic piece of research which is easy to follow and understand throughout. Well worth a read in my opinion. Bradford Railway Circle