Product Description

'Tunnels, Towers & Temples' takes a sideways look at London, revealing the hidden stories, curious histories and sometimes comic assocations behind dozens of often quite familiar places. Through their stories, the author reveals a strange side of London most people never come to know, even though they walk its streets every day and take much of what they see entirely for granted. Typical examples include extensive networks of tunnels running beneath high street pavements, secret transport and signalling networks crisscrossing the capital, genuine oddities such as streetlamps powered by sewer gas, a street where you can legally drive on the right, a future Russian Tsar working incognito in a British naval dockyard, even a Nazi memorial sited among the real heroes and adventurers of the British Empire. This companion to 'Spectacular Vernacular: London's 100 Most Extraordinary Buildings' is the best possible start for anyone who wishes to get off the beaten track and under the skin of the hidden city that is modern-day London.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9603 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-19
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

The London Magazine, November 2006
'Long brings a genuine pleasure to his subject..and encourages his
readers to look at London with an unceasing curiosity.'

The Pass, November 2006
`Long's a good storyteller and his conversational tone
gives you the sense that he's there with you on
your virtual tour of the city.'

Robert Elms - BBC Radio London, 5 July 2007
"Fascinating and handsome and informative and all those things...a
SPLENDID book."

Customer Reviews

Well researched, wonderfully written, fabulous photos
Sequels aren't meant to be as good as the original, are they, but having enjoyed David Long's SPECTACULAR VERNACULAR last year I had to have this one, and I'm not disappointed. Far from it. In fact for anyone bored with all those London books which just go over the same old ground again (Tower of London, yawn) these two books have been a revelation to me. Packed full of places and buildings most of us don't even notice, and with every one photographed and explored by an author with a real talent for the subject, they're original, funny, and above all fascinating in terms of the detail, the history and the personalities they describe and which together make London what it is today.

More of the same - yes please!
Having read and enjoyed the same author's SPECTACULAR VERNACULAR: LONDON'S 100 MOST EXTRAORDINARY BUILDINGS last year - since when I have visited around half of them - I was keen to see what else he could throw up in his entertaining and fantastically inquisitive trawls through the more obscure corners of London.

And the answer is....plenty, and it's all good stuff. Another 100 places most of us don't know about, or haven't spotted or should know more about but don't. Best of all most of them we can visit should we choose to do so, and often without paying a penny. Top secret tunnels, exotic architectural survivors, hidden courtyards and plenty of weird or grisly stuff about the people who built them, lived in them or died there.

The book itself is too big to carry around as a guide, but there's plenty of detail, hundreds of new photographs by the author, and enough in here for several days exploring. And whether you're a local or a visitor, you'll certainly learn plenty you didn't know before. Five stars, definitely

Fab stuff
Whether you're local or just visiting, an explorer or a reader, the subject
of this book can't fail to hook you if you're interested in London. Besides
tunnels, towers and temples, it's packed full of strange houses (old and
new), secret corners, bizarre bits of history and colourful descriptions of
the sort of great places which most of us walk by without noticing everyday
of the week. Not just central London either, but all over.