Customer Reviews

Underground to Everywhere: London's Underground Railway in the Life of the Capital

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This attractive looking book was a disapointment for me. While it was clear the author had signifigant knowledge and invested time in researching the full history, the book focuses heavily on the politics and business planning of the underground - rather than the design and engineering, or the impact of the line on the urban planning of the city. I felt the book would be more accurately titled "The key players of the london underground".

This is a sweeping, wide ranging history of the London Underground ('subway' to Americans), covering everything from station design to municipal politics to the choice of font for official signs. Halliday discusses how the development of London has affected the subway, and vice versa. One example will suffice: Many know that London's black population is centered in the neighborhood of Brixton, but few know the reason - a Brixton-area subway station, on which construction had stalled, was used as emergency housing for immigrants from the Caribbean after WWII.

The eight chapters cover: (1) steam era subways of the 1800s, (2) early electric deep-level tubes, beginning in 1890, (3) the Yerkes era (US entrepreneur takes over the system, 1901-05), (4) the Ashford era (1907-1948), (5) Metroland (subway-oriented suburbs north of London), (6) the artistic and architectural heritage of the system, (7) the two world wars, and (8) the post-WWII era up to 2000. Developments after 2000, such as the 'Public Private Partnerships,' are treated only in a two-paragraph Postscript. There are approximately 70 b&w photos and diagrams, plus eight pages of color illustrations.

The subtitle is deceptive; Stephen Halliday's book is less a social history of the London Underground than an overview of the development and management of the system. Amid copious illustrations, Halliday recounts its history from the development of the first lines in mid-Victorian Britain to the chronic challenges it faced at the end of the twentieth century. What emerges is a tale of ambitious schemes, extravagant promises, and a near-complete lack of coordination in its development. Originating as a series of private for-profit lines, the separate routes were consolidated into a single system by the mid-1930s.

Halliday presents the system's development in a clear and straightforward manner, though one that feels too cursory for the intricacies involved. Much of the text is supplemented with information panels that address sub-topics and summarize particulars about the individual lines; these are useful but often repeat information from the main text. More beneficial are the numerous pictures, including several color plates. These demonstrate the visual heritage of the Underground, both in architecture and the many posters created over the decades designed to advertise its services. They help to make the book a useful source for anyone seeking to learn about the "Tube," though one that offers only the most basic of introductions to the history of this enduring London institution.

Brilliant book..buy it immediately