Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Anchor Books (2012), Edition: Illustrated, 228 pages
Description
A short study of everything that goes on under London--from original springs and streams and Roman amphitheaters to Victorian sewers, gang hideouts, and modern tube stations.
Media reviews
Ackroyd (or his editor) has reined in the whimsical generalisations that mar his earlier books, with not a single utterance of that Ackroydian cliché: “London has always been…”. (Fans of Ackroyd bingo will also note a significant diminution of ‘noisome’ occurrences, with a concomitant
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increase in ‘meets its quietus’.)
This is a short but punchy book. You can easily read it in two sittings. If you’re already well-versed in hypogeal London, you may want to wait for the paperback. For those looking for a highly readable introduction, plumb any depth to get hold of a copy. Show Less
It’s the second half of “London Under” that tells this story of the Tube — the true reward of the book — but Ackroyd makes readers work for it.
User reviews
LibraryThing member lostinavalonOR
This really was a fascinating book---though I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much had I not just recently toured London and seen the Underground and how it all works. I just read today that the Tube strikes began this evening and will last for 48 hours. I'll have to look into that and see
Some chapters I liked more than others. The first 50 pages or so seemed to be filled with more tidbits and less full-on discussion of a particular topic. Once I reached the chapter on the Fleet River, it started to get more specific and I found I enjoyed it more. I also really enjoyed the chapter on sheltering during the war. Incredible!
The description of the "mole man" got me thinking... If a man was doing this tunneling thing in secret and were to die inside a tunnel, how long would it take for someone to find the tunnel, let alone realize he was there?!
Another part I loved was the Dickens quote on pg. 29: "What enormous hosts of dead belong to one old great city, and how, if they were raised while the living slept, there would not be the space of a pinpoint in all the streets and ways for the living to come out into. Not only that, but the vast armies of the dead would overflow the hills and valleys beyond the city, and would stretch away all round it, God knows how far." That is such an amazing thought. It truly is a most ancient city!
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what it's all about.Some chapters I liked more than others. The first 50 pages or so seemed to be filled with more tidbits and less full-on discussion of a particular topic. Once I reached the chapter on the Fleet River, it started to get more specific and I found I enjoyed it more. I also really enjoyed the chapter on sheltering during the war. Incredible!
The description of the "mole man" got me thinking... If a man was doing this tunneling thing in secret and were to die inside a tunnel, how long would it take for someone to find the tunnel, let alone realize he was there?!
Another part I loved was the Dickens quote on pg. 29: "What enormous hosts of dead belong to one old great city, and how, if they were raised while the living slept, there would not be the space of a pinpoint in all the streets and ways for the living to come out into. Not only that, but the vast armies of the dead would overflow the hills and valleys beyond the city, and would stretch away all round it, God knows how far." That is such an amazing thought. It truly is a most ancient city!
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LibraryThing member jwm24
At merely 205 pages (small ones, at that), London Under is essentially an appendix to Ackroyd's earlier London: The Biography. Taken together, these two books provide a poetic, almost dream-like history of the city. London Under covers archaeological discoveries, underground rivers, sewage, burial
It is this impressionistic method, and the desire not to repeat too much of London: The Biography (whose chapter on London's buried rivers is, if anything, even more detailed than what is found in the later book), and not a rush to publication, that led to the book being so short. Ackroyd tells us just enough about the experiences of 18th-century sewer-workers, Victorian tunnelers, and those who used Underground stations as bomb shelters during the two World Wars (against the government's wishes--I did not know that) to create a strong sense of the danger and the attraction of underground spaces for Londoners past and present (especially past; the often accidental preservation of the past, from Roman streets to disused tube stations, is very important to Ackroyd).
As for the absence of maps (another bone of contention for readers on this site and elsewhere), I think that is intentional also, for Time and Space are different underground, and maps would add a false sense of coherence to the experience. As Henry Beck, designer of the iconic, and abstract, map of the London Underground ("the most original work of avant-garde art in Britain between the wars," according to Eric Hobsbawn) said, "if you're going underground, why bother with geography?" (quoted on p. 150).
If there is one section I would have liked to have been longer, it would be the reports of ghosts seen haunting tube stations and tunnels (pp. 163-165), but that's just me.
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practices, the tube (and other underground railroads), WWII bomb shelters, and secret underground government installations, but with no attempt to be comprehensive (a bibliography of more specialized scholarly works is included for those who wish to go into more, um, depth on these subjects). It is this impressionistic method, and the desire not to repeat too much of London: The Biography (whose chapter on London's buried rivers is, if anything, even more detailed than what is found in the later book), and not a rush to publication, that led to the book being so short. Ackroyd tells us just enough about the experiences of 18th-century sewer-workers, Victorian tunnelers, and those who used Underground stations as bomb shelters during the two World Wars (against the government's wishes--I did not know that) to create a strong sense of the danger and the attraction of underground spaces for Londoners past and present (especially past; the often accidental preservation of the past, from Roman streets to disused tube stations, is very important to Ackroyd).
As for the absence of maps (another bone of contention for readers on this site and elsewhere), I think that is intentional also, for Time and Space are different underground, and maps would add a false sense of coherence to the experience. As Henry Beck, designer of the iconic, and abstract, map of the London Underground ("the most original work of avant-garde art in Britain between the wars," according to Eric Hobsbawn) said, "if you're going underground, why bother with geography?" (quoted on p. 150).
If there is one section I would have liked to have been longer, it would be the reports of ghosts seen haunting tube stations and tunnels (pp. 163-165), but that's just me.
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LibraryThing member SamSattler
For several years during the nineties, I spent a minimum of two hours every workday using London’s Metro to make my way from Richmond to Uxbridge. Although there was almost no underground travel on that route, I did use the underground portions of the system on weekends to explore the city –
Recently, that curiosity was reawakened by Peter Ackroyd’s London Under: The Secret History beneath the Streets. Although the book is not entirely devoted to the underground train system, the two or three chapters dedicated to the Underground will serve as a good primer for anyone interested in its history. Ackroyd also offers a three-page bibliography that will be helpful to those readers wanting a more detailed understanding of the underground rail system.
There is a hidden world, one with a long history, beneath the streets of London. Amongst all the cables carrying gas, water, telephone, and electricity are natural springs and rivers that still flow as they always have. Catacombs beneath cemeteries and church graveyards house the ancient, and not so ancient, remains of London citizens. The remnants of Roman amphitheaters and gang hideouts are as out of sight down there as the massive sewer system that carries the waste products of London’s millions. Most fascinating to me, the London Underground still includes a number of “dead stations” that have been closed down over the decades – many of which still display the same posters and signs that were current on the day the stations were first bypassed.
The tunnels beneath London are home to a small animal kingdom, as well. Most prominent, as regular Tube passengers can attest, are countless Russian brown rats and mice, but there are also large populations of frogs, eels, mosquitoes, and cockroaches in the wetter portions of this vast underworld. I also remember seeing a stray dog or two and numerous pigeons that appeared to be hopping rides from one station to the next in search of their next meals.
Because of the catastrophic damage that would result if the tunnels were sabotaged, the London underworld is a “forbidden zone” to which entrance is limited strictly to those with legitimate need of access. As a result, it is almost impossible for any one individual to study the whole of what lies beneath London’s streets. Ackroyd does, however, manage to explain in concise terms the magnitude of what is buried here beneath one of the world’s greatest cities.
The book includes chapters on the London Underground, rivers beneath the surface, the sewer system, animals and insects, pipes and cables, and how the underworld can affect the psyche of people. There is much of interest in this little book of 228 pages (a page count that includes the bibliography and index) but Ackroyd’s style can make for tedious reading at times. This is particularly the case in those chapters devoted to the underground waterways, chapters in which the author traces, almost block by block, the paths of the rivers and streams. Patient readers, however, will come away with a solid, if basic, understanding of just how amazing the London underworld is – and will be left wishing that someone would further explore it to learn what more it can tell us about the city’s past.
Rated at: 3.5
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and always found it hard to believe that the earliest portion of the Underground (the Metropolitan Line) opened in 1863, just as America’s Civil War reached its mid-point. All those travel-hours left me passively curious about the history of the Underground and the visionaries who dared build it. Recently, that curiosity was reawakened by Peter Ackroyd’s London Under: The Secret History beneath the Streets. Although the book is not entirely devoted to the underground train system, the two or three chapters dedicated to the Underground will serve as a good primer for anyone interested in its history. Ackroyd also offers a three-page bibliography that will be helpful to those readers wanting a more detailed understanding of the underground rail system.
There is a hidden world, one with a long history, beneath the streets of London. Amongst all the cables carrying gas, water, telephone, and electricity are natural springs and rivers that still flow as they always have. Catacombs beneath cemeteries and church graveyards house the ancient, and not so ancient, remains of London citizens. The remnants of Roman amphitheaters and gang hideouts are as out of sight down there as the massive sewer system that carries the waste products of London’s millions. Most fascinating to me, the London Underground still includes a number of “dead stations” that have been closed down over the decades – many of which still display the same posters and signs that were current on the day the stations were first bypassed.
The tunnels beneath London are home to a small animal kingdom, as well. Most prominent, as regular Tube passengers can attest, are countless Russian brown rats and mice, but there are also large populations of frogs, eels, mosquitoes, and cockroaches in the wetter portions of this vast underworld. I also remember seeing a stray dog or two and numerous pigeons that appeared to be hopping rides from one station to the next in search of their next meals.
Because of the catastrophic damage that would result if the tunnels were sabotaged, the London underworld is a “forbidden zone” to which entrance is limited strictly to those with legitimate need of access. As a result, it is almost impossible for any one individual to study the whole of what lies beneath London’s streets. Ackroyd does, however, manage to explain in concise terms the magnitude of what is buried here beneath one of the world’s greatest cities.
The book includes chapters on the London Underground, rivers beneath the surface, the sewer system, animals and insects, pipes and cables, and how the underworld can affect the psyche of people. There is much of interest in this little book of 228 pages (a page count that includes the bibliography and index) but Ackroyd’s style can make for tedious reading at times. This is particularly the case in those chapters devoted to the underground waterways, chapters in which the author traces, almost block by block, the paths of the rivers and streams. Patient readers, however, will come away with a solid, if basic, understanding of just how amazing the London underworld is – and will be left wishing that someone would further explore it to learn what more it can tell us about the city’s past.
Rated at: 3.5
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LibraryThing member CliffordDorset
I freely admit to being a fan of Ackroyd. And 'London Under' does not disappoint, even though is rather lacks the more leisurely pace of his many other works. This is entirely forgiveable, given the welter of complex information he presents on all aspects of the fully three-dimensional world that
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lies beneath the present superficial city. He muses on mankind's attraction to the literal underworld, and details the full scope of its significance for the population it supports in so many ways. The complex, busy city is underpinned by a spiritual world, partly based on the primal mystery of the several streams, now forced into covered darkness until they reach the Thames. This is a short book, and I sensed that its summary style was an indication of its role as a source book, invaluable for anyone aspiring to approach the incomparable knowledge and fascination of Ackroyd himself. An excellent book, even for one simply open to a brief revelation of the complexity of modern London. Show Less
LibraryThing member Turrean
Since I just finished reading Pratchett's "Dodger," featuring a young man who knows the tunnels of London like the back of his hand, this was a great find. Ackroyd's book is a collection of the weird and wonderful facts on the "underworld" below London: its train tunnels, crypts, water and waste
It's a Londoner's book, though. Ackroyd talks about all the subway stations and London neighborhoods with an insider's knowledge. But with not a map to be seen, to the non-resident reader, it's just a list of places. The author doesn't spend a lot of time explaining distances or locations. It makes me a little wistful, because I've read a million books set in London. Every now and then, a place-name from a Dickens or Sayers or Streatfield novel leaps out at me, tantalizingly familiar. The rest is a mystery. At one point, Ackroyd quotes the man who designed the iconic map of the Underground: "If you're going underground, why bother with geography?" Ackroyd seems to have taken this to heart.
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pipes. The tale is fascinating, full of visionary thinkers who built a dark twin to the London above ground. It's a Londoner's book, though. Ackroyd talks about all the subway stations and London neighborhoods with an insider's knowledge. But with not a map to be seen, to the non-resident reader, it's just a list of places. The author doesn't spend a lot of time explaining distances or locations. It makes me a little wistful, because I've read a million books set in London. Every now and then, a place-name from a Dickens or Sayers or Streatfield novel leaps out at me, tantalizingly familiar. The rest is a mystery. At one point, Ackroyd quotes the man who designed the iconic map of the Underground: "If you're going underground, why bother with geography?" Ackroyd seems to have taken this to heart.
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LibraryThing member devenish
Peter Ackroyd is one of that select number of authors who has never produced a dull or uninteresting book. Having written what must be considered the definitive history of London in 'London : The Biography',he now presents us with an alternative history,a history of the City beneath the surface.
From the Underground (known and unknown) to the bunkers built in case of nuclear war. From the London Sewerage system to the miles of pipes and wires that lay beneath. Not forgetting the underground rivers,of which The Fleet is perhaps the best known,but far from being the only example.
'London Under' is a most readable book, and one which should make an invaluable addition to anyone's library,who is at all interested in the literature of London.
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This is not a salubrious tale for it is the story of darkness,sewerage,rats and disease. Ackroyd's book is a fascinating story of the many secret and little-known places and spaces hidden below the streets of this great city.From the Underground (known and unknown) to the bunkers built in case of nuclear war. From the London Sewerage system to the miles of pipes and wires that lay beneath. Not forgetting the underground rivers,of which The Fleet is perhaps the best known,but far from being the only example.
'London Under' is a most readable book, and one which should make an invaluable addition to anyone's library,who is at all interested in the literature of London.
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LibraryThing member amymyoung
I really wanted to like this book. However I could not get into the author's style and felt like I was reading a very long high school essay on the subject. Better books are to be found in his references section at the end of the book.
LibraryThing member heyjude
I found London Under to be both fascinating and disappointing at the same time. On the one hand I was totally engrossed in learning about the many waterways under the city and how they led to the naming of the city streets. Archaeological remnants of the Romans (and older residents of the area) are
But "brief" is the key word here. The author attempts to cover all of these subjects in barely 200 small pages (the hardcover book is only slightly larger than a mass market paperback) but essentially turns the waterways and wells sections into lists. Maps of the waterways would have been much more interesting than some of the illustrations that were included. Even a map of the current Underground would have added to the section on its history for those who have never been to London.
In addition, the author's continuing comparisons to the mythological underworld and on-going descriptions of the fetid atmospheres (what else would one expect in the sewers?) tended to detract from my pleasure in the book. I would rather less of the flowery descriptions and more of the nitty-gritty. He does include a nice bibliography from which I hope to find other books that go more in depth than this work.
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still being found. I also found the brief history of the Underground rail system interesting. But "brief" is the key word here. The author attempts to cover all of these subjects in barely 200 small pages (the hardcover book is only slightly larger than a mass market paperback) but essentially turns the waterways and wells sections into lists. Maps of the waterways would have been much more interesting than some of the illustrations that were included. Even a map of the current Underground would have added to the section on its history for those who have never been to London.
In addition, the author's continuing comparisons to the mythological underworld and on-going descriptions of the fetid atmospheres (what else would one expect in the sewers?) tended to detract from my pleasure in the book. I would rather less of the flowery descriptions and more of the nitty-gritty. He does include a nice bibliography from which I hope to find other books that go more in depth than this work.
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LibraryThing member edwinbcn
Peter Ackroyd is the undisputed chronicler of the history of London in his London: The Biography. This splendid volume of the zenith of London now has a slim companion volume, which focusses on the dark recesses below the pavement on the city. London under describes the history and variety of
London under is a tantalizing in that it is both profoundly interesting but seemingly too ephemeral. No less than 13 short chapters produce less than 180 pages, each describing a different system of canals, pipes, tubes, tunnels hidden in the dark under the city. Besides descriptions of the respective systems, several chapters are devoted to describing people whose profession led to to live underground, as diggers or dwellers, historical or fictional, as in the last chapter some science fiction of H.G Wells in The Sleeper Awakes.
London under is a very light and entertaining read, packed with facts, spanning almost all of London's history, bringing many gems of information and anecdotes about the London underworld to light.
A delighting read.
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sub-terrean London.London under is a tantalizing in that it is both profoundly interesting but seemingly too ephemeral. No less than 13 short chapters produce less than 180 pages, each describing a different system of canals, pipes, tubes, tunnels hidden in the dark under the city. Besides descriptions of the respective systems, several chapters are devoted to describing people whose profession led to to live underground, as diggers or dwellers, historical or fictional, as in the last chapter some science fiction of H.G Wells in The Sleeper Awakes.
London under is a very light and entertaining read, packed with facts, spanning almost all of London's history, bringing many gems of information and anecdotes about the London underworld to light.
A delighting read.
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LibraryThing member PaulBaldowski
Ackroyd displays his dependable writing style, engaging the reader with tales of London below, from Roman remains through to the delving of World War II. It feels a little like something that might have been extracted from Ackroyd's previous works on London, like a lost chapter, but that's no bad
A fine read - recommended to anyone with an interest in the history of London, or the business of underground exploration.
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thing. Short and informative, the book breaks down into thirteen chapters covering slightly different subjects - such as the sewers, subterranean rivers, tunnel construction and the Tube.A fine read - recommended to anyone with an interest in the history of London, or the business of underground exploration.
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LibraryThing member sriemann
I am interested enough in the writing style to look at his London:Biography, but I felt some chapters could have been shorter while others (esp. the one about the men who worked underground) should have been a lot longer.
LibraryThing member zdarlight
Not just factually accurate and interesting but beautifully written; a rarity.
LibraryThing member jphamilton
Doesn't everyone find tunnels, sewers, rats, explosions, bomb shelters, and the London Underground all enough to make a good little book out of? Well, maybe not every one of you, but it sure kept me entertained and educated for several hours. This small book offered a little bit about many topics
Here’s just some of what I learned:
— the Underground was used by Londoners seeking safety from Germany's Zeppelins during World War I, and hundreds of thousands again found themselves sleeping there to escape the many nights of bombing in WW II
— at times the sewer rats were called "bunnies" by the workers that worked beside them
— in the past, pollution of the Thames River caused the drinking water drawn from it to be "of a brownish colour" - you've got to love the understated British
— the early springs of the city's spas (or "spaws") promised everything, even "strengthens the Stomach, makes gross and fat bodies lean, and lean bodies fleshy"
— some sewer walls are now coated with 30 to 40 inches of fat, since the advent of modern fast food
— there was a huge group of people ("toshers") who made a meager and illegal income from scavenging the sewers for anything of value
— when someone (a "jumper") attempts suicide in the Underground there will be an announcement, throughout the system, for "Inspector Sands" to investigate the "incident"
— the Underground's one fare for all caused quite a stir among the classes of London ... "Yet as a reading of Dante would have suggested, all are equal in the underworld."
— because of concern for people's reaction to seeing the tunnels walls flying by so closely to the train's windows, the carriages were quilted and became nicknamed "padded cells"
London Under was always interesting, but after looking at Ackroyd's massive book on London, which was focused above ground, I found myself wanting more text here for below. But, to be entertained and educated is a good gift from any book.
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concerning subterranean London—of the present day, and more intriguingly, in the city's long past.Here’s just some of what I learned:
— the Underground was used by Londoners seeking safety from Germany's Zeppelins during World War I, and hundreds of thousands again found themselves sleeping there to escape the many nights of bombing in WW II
— at times the sewer rats were called "bunnies" by the workers that worked beside them
— in the past, pollution of the Thames River caused the drinking water drawn from it to be "of a brownish colour" - you've got to love the understated British
— the early springs of the city's spas (or "spaws") promised everything, even "strengthens the Stomach, makes gross and fat bodies lean, and lean bodies fleshy"
— some sewer walls are now coated with 30 to 40 inches of fat, since the advent of modern fast food
— there was a huge group of people ("toshers") who made a meager and illegal income from scavenging the sewers for anything of value
— when someone (a "jumper") attempts suicide in the Underground there will be an announcement, throughout the system, for "Inspector Sands" to investigate the "incident"
— the Underground's one fare for all caused quite a stir among the classes of London ... "Yet as a reading of Dante would have suggested, all are equal in the underworld."
— because of concern for people's reaction to seeing the tunnels walls flying by so closely to the train's windows, the carriages were quilted and became nicknamed "padded cells"
London Under was always interesting, but after looking at Ackroyd's massive book on London, which was focused above ground, I found myself wanting more text here for below. But, to be entertained and educated is a good gift from any book.
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LibraryThing member krazykiwi
Other reviewers have said it all. It's rambly, and would have made a cracking good essay, but it feels padded, which is odd when it's such a short book.
Interesting topic, treated poorly.
The layout is rather nice though, typography and chapter title pages. (Damning with faint praise much?)
Interesting topic, treated poorly.
The layout is rather nice though, typography and chapter title pages. (Damning with faint praise much?)
LibraryThing member MiaCulpa
I read and enjoyed "London: The Biography" by Peter Ackroyd so I was looking forward to this companian piece. Sadly, it did not meet my expections; it seems Ackroyd had done a lot of research on underground London for "London: The Biography" but didn't use there for whatever reason and instead
While "London Under" is an interesting, if wandering book, and if you want a quick dip into London's subterranean domain, this could be the book for you but if you want to immerse yourself in London's sewers, then perhaps look through the exhaustive bibliography at the back of "London Under" for other, more comprehensive titles to sate your thirst.
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threw it together for a new book.While "London Under" is an interesting, if wandering book, and if you want a quick dip into London's subterranean domain, this could be the book for you but if you want to immerse yourself in London's sewers, then perhaps look through the exhaustive bibliography at the back of "London Under" for other, more comprehensive titles to sate your thirst.
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LibraryThing member coolmama
What a brilliant little book that talks about the history up to current day about what goes on beneath one feet while walking London.
I found the bit about the underground WWII tunnel and how Duncan Campbell rode his bike through them to be priceless!
I would have loved a detailed map, as I had to go
I found the bit about the underground WWII tunnel and how Duncan Campbell rode his bike through them to be priceless!
I would have loved a detailed map, as I had to go
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to my A-Z constantly to see where he was talking about. Show Less
LibraryThing member SalemAthenaeum
London Under is a wonderful, atmospheric, imaginative, oozing short study of everything that goes on under London, from original springs and streams and Roman amphitheaters to Victorian sewers, gang hideouts, and modern tube stations. The depths below are hot, warmer than the surface, and this
To go under London is to penetrate history, to enter a hidden world. As Ackroyd puts it, “The vastness of the space, a second earth, elicits sensations of wonder and of terror. It partakes of myth and dream in equal measure.”
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book tunnels down through the geological layers, meeting the creatures, real and fictional, that dwell in darkness—rats and eels, monsters and ghosts. When the Underground’s Metropolitan Line was opened in 1864, the guards asked for permission to grow beards to protect themselves against the sulfurous fumes, and named their engines after tyrants—Czar, Kaiser, Mogul—and even Pluto, god of the underworld.To go under London is to penetrate history, to enter a hidden world. As Ackroyd puts it, “The vastness of the space, a second earth, elicits sensations of wonder and of terror. It partakes of myth and dream in equal measure.”
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LibraryThing member NatalieSW
In the first half of the book, the author talks about London's numerous rivers and how successive populations of inhabitants used them and interacted with them, including the results of such use, such as pollution, spread of disease, shortage of drinking water. He also talks about the Brunels and
I didn't enjoy so much the second half of the book, in which Mr. Ackroyd talks mostly about underground structures and the use of the tunnels in the twentieth century, for example during WWII. He expands on people's feelings, offers conjectures about aspects of the tunnels ("In Furnival Street are two black double doors that might lead to a warehouse...), and in general offers less factual material, with a final chapter on "Deep Fantasies" ("The underground world also invites images of the sublime. The vastness of the space, a second earth, elicits sensations of wonder and of terror. ..."). More style than substance in this latter part of the book did less for me than the first part but, by and large, an enjoyable quick read.
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tunneling under the Thames, and about the underground train system and how pumps are necessary to keep the water out of the tunnels. I found this part of the book interesting and informative as an introduction to the subject, and the author's style is engaging. I didn't enjoy so much the second half of the book, in which Mr. Ackroyd talks mostly about underground structures and the use of the tunnels in the twentieth century, for example during WWII. He expands on people's feelings, offers conjectures about aspects of the tunnels ("In Furnival Street are two black double doors that might lead to a warehouse...), and in general offers less factual material, with a final chapter on "Deep Fantasies" ("The underground world also invites images of the sublime. The vastness of the space, a second earth, elicits sensations of wonder and of terror. ..."). More style than substance in this latter part of the book did less for me than the first part but, by and large, an enjoyable quick read.
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LibraryThing member wrichard
Peter Ackroyd entertains in his poetic factual and informative style.
LibraryThing member TheBookJunky
I wish I knew London -- this book was enjoyable, a fascinating mix of snippets of info about all kinds of things under ground in London, not just the Tube. The book really came alive when it mentioned areas I was a bit familiar with. Just another good reason to go back for more exploring. Thanks
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Susan! Show Less
LibraryThing member SESchend
Interesting and useful research resource, but not as engaging as some of Ackroyd's other works. Still, if you need info on what facts lurk beneath London's streets, this is a good book.
LibraryThing member beentsy
This was interesting, particularly from a scatology perspective, but it felt a bit all over the place. You could feel that the author was very passionate about the subject of this unseen part of London but then it just felt like you were running after them as they pointed at this and then this and
Granted, it is a very small book to try to tackle such a long and varied history. It has made me want to look up some other more detailed books, chronologically organized perhaps, to get a fuller picture of the subject.
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then this and then that!!! Granted, it is a very small book to try to tackle such a long and varied history. It has made me want to look up some other more detailed books, chronologically organized perhaps, to get a fuller picture of the subject.
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LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
Mr. Ackroyd's competent prose informs us of various details of his London researches unsuitable for inclusion in "London the Biography" and "The Thames" Some of the details are sensational, and a good book if you are a fan of the City.
LibraryThing member KevinCannon1968
An enjoyable read in places especially the chapters detailing the history of the Tube but overall a little disappointing due to the writing style.
A lot of interesting material but could've been packaged better. This was one I had to put down at times and read something else before returning to it
A lot of interesting material but could've been packaged better. This was one I had to put down at times and read something else before returning to it
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as it was a bit dry Show Less
LibraryThing member Ma_Washigeri
Plus another half star. As I read it I felt as if it were an unstructured elegant list of facts (and I was glad it was so short) but by the chapter on the underground I was enthralled. Skimming back through the book after finishing it was much more satisfying than the first read through - the
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structure became clear and it has left me with the thirst to go off and look at maps and search out more detail and find out much more. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2011
Physical description
7.94 inches
ISBN
0307473783 / 9780307473783
Local notes
Gross and entertaining account of the world below London's streets.