Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3086 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Paul Barker, Evening Standard
'An entertaining and informative history.'

Metro
'Christian Wolmar goes beyond the bare facts to give us the human story of the Underground... Fascinating.'

John O'Connell, Time Out
'Using a deft selection of facts and anecdotes... The Subterranean Railway captures the enthusiasm of [the Underground's] early years.'

Customer Reviews

Wolmar takes you down under.
Christian Wolmar is a journalist who happens to have an interest in trains and this is one of many books he has written on the subject over the last 10 years.
Subterranean Railway focuses on the London Underground and how it grew to what we travel on today in our millions year on year.
Now personally I can just about tolerate the Underground in off peak times but when it comes to the peak hours it has to been one of the worse traveling experiences known to man or woman.
So with that in mind this book made me sit up and take notice of what a great feat on engineering the London Underground really is and still remains, the photo of Piccadilly Circus in chapter thirteen illustrates this point very well indeed.
In Chapters 1 to 13 Christian takes you on a journey from the Underground's construction during the 1850's and the subjacent creation of the first underground line the Metropolitan, then he goes on to explain the building and politics behind all the lines and finishes this part of the book with the story behind the creation of what is know as Metroland or to use another term, suburban London.
In Chapter 14 Christian goes onto explain the use of the underground during the war years and how it helped save many lives during the German bombing raids.
The London Underground is not without its problems by any means and in the last chapter Christian briefly explains why a lack of investment since the 1960's lead to a sad decline which was only turned around after the Kings Cross fire in the 1987.
Christian has done his research and because of this his book introduces and brings alive in your mind all the people that have played their part in the history of the Underground.
The reason I give this book a 4 star rating and not a 5 is I don't think there is enough pictures to compliment the Underground's early history and it can be sometimes hard to image what the old coaches and carriages use to look and feel like in them early years.
The book won't change your journey experience on the Underground but it will help you to appreciate and be proud of it.

A compelling account of a masterful creation
This book looks at the creation of the underground from all angles: political, technical, social - and is interesting throughout. The author's sense of humour and well chosen quotes brings a sense of reverie to the experience, as one imagines what it must have been like at the beginning, and in comparison to the present day. It's nice to see a book which really underlines what a remarkable achievement the London Underground, was how important a creation it has proved to be.

surprisingly fascinating and readable history
Well researched lively and interesting history of the World's oldest and
most respected underground railway.
What amazing people the Victorians were in their vision and their incredible technological bravura.Also the many thousands of workers who built and ran the line are given due acknowledgement.
A great read.