London's Underground: The Story of the Tube

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There is the worthy public service corporatism of the interwar period, the first inklings of the military-industrial complex, the introduction of rational planning, paternalism and modernisation but always with an eye to the welfare of workers and people - and budgetary responsibility. 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 history of the London underground is only a part of the history of London - a history that started only with the world's first underground railway in 1863 (the Metropolitan line) - but it is an important part. The very existence of the London Transport Museum is testament to that.

A book Londoners and anyone interested in design should read." The Society of Model and Experimental Engineers - York Model Engineers Newsletter, March 2023

Finally, there is an account of the speculative capitalism around Highgate High Level which allows the telling of the story of the NIMBY-led creation of Hampstead Garden Suburb and a return to the centre of London for the stories of the Strand complex and that under Euston. This extraordinarily well-illustrated book is much more than its title suggests........This is a very important contribution to how we understand what the London Underground has given to the metropolis, much more than just its internationally recognised ‘map’. The Historian – Autumn 2022 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?”. This book was a real pleasure to read, greatly exceeding my expectations and will be warmly recommended to family and friends, in fact, to anyone who has travelled in London or would like to one day. This book will make a journey in London, be it for business or pleasure, a much richer and satisfying experience.

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. Carmen Kingsley, an archaeologist with the British Museum. A specialist in the Tudor era, she is in charge of all the archaeological digs in the city. Carmen is on the Asperger’s spectrum but is high-functioning. One could be forgiven for wondering if there was anything new to be said about the London Underground map. However, this excellent and entertaining book takes the whole story of the creation and expansion of the Underground network and shows how maps of the system have had to develop and change as the network became more complex and difficult to understand. The plot opens in present day London where Inspector Sherwood Peets and his partner not only uncover the remains of two women in a maintenance tunnel but are given a warning by a homeless and dirty young woman who vanishes in the darkness as Carmen Kingsley in charge of London projects at the British Museum and her friend Julia stumble on piles of dead and dying rats, discovering the remains of a rat Exterminator. Joining forces to unearth the truth behind their mysterious discoveries as the rodents escape from their underground haven into the city spreading the age- old disease, Sherwood and Carmen uncover government secrets and a coverup as well as evidence of a genetically enhanced species that threatens not just London but the British Isles.

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I was expecting the book's focus to be solely on the history of the map; however, this book actually looks at the entire history of the network, spanning its inception, construction. I think it's a richer read for exploring the wider history to understand and explain decisions. A fascinating book covering not just the history of the Underground map but of the Underground itself. Recommended. Then we have the hinge of British recent history - the war - where the underground had a double function of protecting the people from air warfare and ensuring that the state administration and war effort could run unhindered by turning tunnels into administrative and control assets.Norwegian born RAF Flight Commander Gunnar Hansen,” who knows the territory and speaks the language

Philip Trimm, the archaeologist who is managing a major dig at a park called Coram’s Fields. He’s thoroughly unlikable and detests Carmen. The book moves on to the Picadilly Circus complex, Down Street and its role as the wartime railway executive's headquarters and the first of two overground stories with an account of the modernist 55 Broadway headquarters of the underground system built in 1929. 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 EdwardsI write this review having only ever been on the London Underground once in my life, and yet I have always found it to be fascinating if not mesmerising transport system. When you don’t come from an underground transport system area, it always staggering the layout and construction of something so huge, yet you can’t really see most of it. This is a really well laid out and researched book by the author Caroline Roops who has combined history and detail with modern-day details that will engage the reader. The book even explains a number of disputes amongst officials of the underground system, who wanted things their way against other people's opinions. I loved all the different little stories throughout the book which helped give a story and character to the various parts of the underground. This is a fascinating book and very well worth the read by an author who has done a great job in writing it. 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. 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 Publications They will love it for its photographs which are to a very high standard, the book's design and the well written short histories of lost parts of the London underground transport empire. Published by Yale University Press, my quibbles over a typo and some minor editorial lapses may be passed over. The story of how the Underground map evolved is almost as troubled and fraught with complexities as the transport network it represents. Mapping the Underground was not for the faint-hearted – it rapidly became a source of frustration, and in some cases obsession – often driving its custodians to the point of distraction. The solution, when eventually found, would not only revolutionise the movement of people around the city but change the way we visualise London forever.