London's Underground: The Story of the Tube

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If you read the book through, you will be able to put the bits of a puzzle into a jigsaw and have a better of idea of London's development than you might from other more plodding and academic chronological surveys. There are ten primary locations and themes covered. If you're unable to release the books in accordance to Section 38(1)(b) of Freedom of Information Act 2000. Would you be able to release the remaining information from the Rule Books by redacting sensitive information in accordance to the FOI Act and GDPR/Data Protection Act?”. A chilling adventure beneath the streets of London where WWII-era bombs, government conspiracies, and science—gone very very wrong—collide. 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.

As well as Notes, Bibliography and Index , the author also includes many figures such as historical prints, photographs, artwork, promotional & advertising material and of course maps. A first class book and highly recommended to not only London Underground enthusiasts but also anyone interested in the history of railways. Peter A. Harding, Branch Line & Light Railway PublicationsPhilip Trimm, the archaeologist who is managing a major dig at a park called Coram’s Fields. He’s thoroughly unlikable and detests Carmen. An exploration of the abandoned tributaries of London’s vast and vital transportation network through breathtaking images and unexpected stories This is a very special book which not only looks at the history of the London Underground Map but also gives much more interesting details of the London Underground in general. Written in a very easy readable style, Caroline Roope leaves no stone unturned in her research which looks at the notorious rivalry between Sir Edward Watkin (Chairman of the Metropolitan Railway) and James Staats Forbes (Chairman of the Metropolitan District Railway) amongst many other notable personalities of the day.

The first disused underground station is that at King William Street where ambition exceeded experience in engineering and which opened in 1890, only to close in 1900. As in all cases, the authors then tell the story of the subsequent use the tunnels were put to and their state today. 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 To those of us whose interests extend beyond London's tramways this is a fresh and well-presented account, fostering new insights." Tramway Review - March 2023 A fascinating book covering not just the history of the Underground map but of the Underground itself. Recommended.

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. The book begins with a heartfelt introduction to the London Underground and the magic it provides; a passenger may travel and emerge somewhere new and not quite know exactly how far, or where, indeed by what means they have travelled. The Map of course is the ever-present aid; a trusty companion to London travel, representing 150 years of design, engineering, expansion and so much more. 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.

These vignettes are deftly done. The narration of “London Underground” uses a broad range of sub-plots or “slants” in different times and places, some far from London, that involve the unfinished business of World War II. They contribute to the intense suspense of the novel.An earlier subchapter described events during World War II and Hitler’s obsession with biological warfare. A German outpost was established in a village in the north of occupied Norway, intended to develop biological weapons. These weapons with their “payload” were so lethal that the outpost was constructed far from the German homeland. A group from the Norwegian underground tries to blow up the outpost, or at least steal the weaponized bio-missile. But they are too late. It has been put on a railroad flat-car and bound to the south and Germany. This is a thoroughly enjoyable and readable account of the Underground and its iconic map." West Somerset Railway Association