Subterranean Railway : How the London Underground Was Built and How It Changed the City Forever
The dramatic story of the men who made the world's first, and still the largest, underground passenger railway.
Since Victorian times, London's underground railway has played a vital role in the daily life of generations of Londoners. This wide-ranging history of the Underground celebrates the vision and determination of the Victorian pioneers who conceived this revolutionary transport system and the men who tunnelled to make the tube.
As Christian Wolmar shows, the creation of the Underground provided a huge stimulus to the development of the city. The suburban area of Metroland was built and marketed as a result of the Metropolitan Line's extension into north-west London. As the Underground system expanded it also brought a new look to London. The purity of the design is encapsulated most famously in Harry Beck's map of the system, but also given expression in station architecture and the smallest of details, including a typeface devised specifically for the Underground.
From the early days of steam to electrification, via the Underground's contribution to twentieth-century industrial design and its role during two world wars, this incredible story comes right up to the present with its sleek, driverless trains and the wrangles over the future of the system. The Subterranean Railway reveals London's hidden wonder and shows how the railway beneath the streets helped create the city we know today.
Hardback with dust jacket, 16x22cm, 351 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Very Good
ISBN: 9781843540229
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Updated: 7 April 2025