Popular London Underground Books

15+ [Hand Picked] Popular Books On London Underground

4.5/5

Waterloo-City, City-Waterloo: The Waterloo and City Line by Leanne Shapton

Leanne Shapton, author of Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris and Swimming Studies, creates an authorly and artistic response to travel, work and being a passenger - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. In Waterloo-City, City-Waterloo , Leanne Shapton creates an aut Leanne Shapton, author of Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris and Swimming Studies, creates an authorly and artistic response to travel, work and being a passenger - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. In Waterloo-City, City-Waterloo , Leanne Shapton creates an authorly and artistic response to the Waterloo and City line's particular length and those who travel on it. Shapton observes the particularities of the line's rush-hour passengers and imagines a number of their interior monologs, in both verbal and visual detail. The variety of commuters ruminations and obsessions result in a detailed and illustrated breakdown of the line's distance and time - its brevity, its passage between only two stations, its existence as almost primarily a shuttle for office workers going between their homes and the business district of the City. The layout of the book reflects the two stops on the line, one half of the book representing the Waterloo-City ourgoing journey, and the second half, the City-Waterloo return voyage.

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4.2/5

Underground London by Stephen Smith

What is visible to the naked eye has been exhaustively raked over; in UNDERGROUND LONDON, acclaimed travel writer Stephen Smith provides an alternative guide and history of the capital. It's a journey through the passages and tunnels of the city, the bunkers and tunnels, crypts and shadows. As well as being a contemporary tour of underground London, it's also an exploratio What is visible to the naked eye has been exhaustively raked over; in UNDERGROUND LONDON, acclaimed travel writer Stephen Smith provides an alternative guide and history of the capital. It's a journey through the passages and tunnels of the city, the bunkers and tunnels, crypts and shadows. As well as being a contemporary tour of underground London, it's also an exploration through time: Queen Boudicca lies beneath Platform 10 at King's Cross (legend has it); Dick Turpin fled the Bow Street Runners along secret passages leading from the cellar of the Spaniards pub in North London; the remains of a pre-Christian Mithraic temple have been found near the Bank of England; on the platforms of the now defunct King William Street Underground, posters still warn that 'Careless talk costs lives'. Stephen Smith uncovers the secrets of the city by walking through sewers, tunnels under such places as Hampton Court, ghost tube stations, and long lost rivers such as the Fleet and the Tyburn. This is 'alternative' history at its best.

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4/5

Down the Tube: The Battle for London's Underground by Christian Wolmar

Strikes and the threat of strikes, breakdowns, signal failures, crumbling infrastructure and rising crime - for every Londoner, and many commuters, too, the disastrous condition of London's underground system is a daily reminder of the political and managerial failures that have brought a critical public service to the verge of collapse. Now that the Labour government has Strikes and the threat of strikes, breakdowns, signal failures, crumbling infrastructure and rising crime - for every Londoner, and many commuters, too, the disastrous condition of London's underground system is a daily reminder of the political and managerial failures that have brought a critical public service to the verge of collapse. Now that the Labour government has committed the future of the Tube to the Treasury's Public/Private Partnership Scheme, the question is: in 2013 will we see as promised, a refurbished and revitalised system? Or will we be lamenting yet another instalment in a long litany of failure? Christian Wolmar is not optimistic - indeed, he sees every prospect of a reprise of the consequences that flowed from the privatisation of the railways, which he analysed in his previous book "Broken Rail". So how, he asks, did we get into this situation? Why was the Tube starved of investment by successive governments over so many years? How did the present government allow it to become a political football, a vehicle for "punishing" Ken Livingstone for the humiliation he had imposed upon them in London's first mayoral election? Why do ministers still believe, after the collapse of Railtrack, that the separation of operations from maintenance and renewal is anything other than a recipe for inefficiency and a threat to safety? This is a tale of conspiracy and intrigue with a rich cast of characters - Tony Blair, John Prescott and his puppetmaster, Gordon Brown, on the one side and Ken Livingstone and Bob Kiley, the manager Livingstone brought in to save the Tube, and his mysterious coterie of fellow Americans, on the other. For Londoners, though, the critical question is whether all these players can now put the antagonisms behind them and recreate a transport system worthy of a great capital city? Christian Wolmar explains the legacy they have inherited and analyses the problems they will face in the future.

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4.3/5

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Under the streets of London there's a place most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armour and pale girls in black velvet. This is the city of the people who have fallen between the cracks. Richard Mayhew, a young businessman, is going to find out more than enough about this other London. A single act of kindnes Under the streets of London there's a place most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armour and pale girls in black velvet. This is the city of the people who have fallen between the cracks. Richard Mayhew, a young businessman, is going to find out more than enough about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his workday existence and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and utterly bizarre. And a strange destiny awaits him down here, beneath his native city: Neverwhere.

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3.9/5

London Falling by Paul Cornell

The dark is rising ...Detective Inspector James Quill is about to complete the drugs bust of his career. Then his prize suspect Rob Toshack is murdered in custody. Furious, Quill pursues the investigation, co-opting intelligence analyst Lisa Ross and undercover cops Costain and Sefton. But nothing about Toshack's murder is normal. Toshack had struck a bargain with a vindic The dark is rising ...Detective Inspector James Quill is about to complete the drugs bust of his career. Then his prize suspect Rob Toshack is murdered in custody. Furious, Quill pursues the investigation, co-opting intelligence analyst Lisa Ross and undercover cops Costain and Sefton. But nothing about Toshack's murder is normal. Toshack had struck a bargain with a vindictive entity, whose occult powers kept Toshack one step ahead of the law -- until his luck ran out. Now, the team must find a 'suspect' who can bend space and time and alter memory itself. And they will kill again. As the group starts to see London's sinister magic for themselves, they have two choices: panic or use their new abilities. Then they must hunt a terrifying supernatural force the only way they know how: using police methods, equipment and tactics. But they must all learn the rules of this new game - and quickly. More than their lives will depend on it.

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4/5

Mind The Child: The Victoria Line by Camila Batmanghelidjh

Kids Company, a leading London charity supported by Prince Charles, Helen Mirren and Stephen Fry, presents the voices of some of London's children, in partnership with the charity's founder Camila Batmanghelidjh - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. Written by the children of Kids Company in partnership with Camila Batmanghe Kids Company, a leading London charity supported by Prince Charles, Helen Mirren and Stephen Fry, presents the voices of some of London's children, in partnership with the charity's founder Camila Batmanghelidjh - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. Written by the children of Kids Company in partnership with Camila Batmanghelidjh, Mind The Child will bring voices to light from the hidden parts of the city, the parts not usually heard from in our media, the parts least served by investment, and by public transport. The stations of the Victoria Line are some of the few on the Underground to weave into the capital's most neglected areas - south and east London - but even they stop abruptly at the relatively central points of Brixton at one end, Walthamstow at the other. Here, the children bring us beyond these arbitrary cut-offs, into the vast stretches of the metropolis they call home. They want us to look at what we don't see. Kids Company supports 17,000 children and young people, many of whom have endured significant childhood maltreatment. The children are assisted through a recovery programme and helped to achieve their full potential. Kids Company is inspired by the children's courage and creativity as well as their ability to forgive those who have harmed them and remain hopeful. Their supporters include Prince Charles, Richard Branson, Stephen Fry and Helen Mirren.

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4.5/5

Earthbound: The Bakerloo Line by Paul Morley

Paul Morley, author, journalist and cultural commentator, tells the story of post-punk, music and changing times - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. 'Bakerloo Brown is carpet colour, corduroy colour, cow colour, fake tan. It's not chocolate square - there's something flavourless about it. Actually, it's earth colour.' In Ea Paul Morley, author, journalist and cultural commentator, tells the story of post-punk, music and changing times - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. 'Bakerloo Brown is carpet colour, corduroy colour, cow colour, fake tan. It's not chocolate square - there's something flavourless about it. Actually, it's earth colour.' In Earthbound , Paul Morley uses the Bakerloo line to tell the story of post-punk, the NME, his first Sony Walkman and the curious history of a little-known German group called 'Can', meditating on memory, music, taste, technology and the things that connect us. Critic and cultural theorist Paul Morley has written books about music history, Joy Division , suicide, the moog synthesiser and the north of England. A contributor to numerous publications from the Face to the Financial Times , a founding member of the Art of Noise, he appears regularly on BBC 2's The Review Show and has presented radio and television documentaries on many subjects including Brian Eno, boredom, the recording studio and Anthony Burgess. He uses an unregistered Oyster Card.

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3.8/5

Drift: The Hammersmith and City Line by Philippe Parreno

Artist and filmmaker, Philippe Parreno, who created the documentary, Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, takes us in Drift on a unique voyage through London - a journey without the typical purposes of a journey, an artistic, psychogeographical path - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. 'This is my rather steam punk proposal: A t Artist and filmmaker, Philippe Parreno, who created the documentary, Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, takes us in Drift on a unique voyage through London - a journey without the typical purposes of a journey, an artistic, psychogeographical path - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. 'This is my rather steam punk proposal: A time machine. While you read this book you will go back in time. It takes an hour to read the book and it takes an hour to reach Barking station from Hammersmith station. This is an hour in 21 years.' So begins Philippe Parreno, running in film clips from Marilyn to Gremlins, Philip K. Dick to Jurassic Park, exploring as he goes the meaning of time, of consciousness, of art and creation. The result is an argument, an essay, a psychogeography, a manifesto.

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4/5

A Northern Line Minute: The Northern Line by William Leith

William Leith, author of The Hungry Years and Bits of Me Are Falling Apart, tells, in A Northern Line Minute, the darkly humorous tales of his escapades on the Tube - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. The Northern Line is the Black Line, and William's experience of it certainly reflects that. It's the line on which he has f William Leith, author of The Hungry Years and Bits of Me Are Falling Apart, tells, in A Northern Line Minute, the darkly humorous tales of his escapades on the Tube - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. The Northern Line is the Black Line, and William's experience of it certainly reflects that. It's the line on which he has fought with his girlfriend, lost jobs, watched football teams lose and been stuck underground. It's a story of London life.

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4.2/5

The 32 Stops: The Central Line by Danny Dorling

Geographer Danny Dorling tells the stories of the people who live along the 32 stops of the Central Line to illustrate the extent and impact of inequality in Britain today - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. Like the trace of a heartbeat on a cardiac monitor, the Central Line slowly falls south through west London, rises ge Geographer Danny Dorling tells the stories of the people who live along the 32 stops of the Central Line to illustrate the extent and impact of inequality in Britain today - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. Like the trace of a heartbeat on a cardiac monitor, the Central Line slowly falls south through west London, rises gently through the centre and then flicks up north through the east end of the capital. At the start of the journey life expectancy falls by two months a minute. Between the first four stations every second spent moving on the train is exactly a day off their lives in terms of how long people living beside the tracks can expect to live. By telling the personal stories of the very different people who live along the Central Line, the people who really make up The 32 Stops, geographer Danny Dorling explores the class and wealth divides that define our lives. His work shows the widening gap between rich and poor in the UK, and how where you live determines so much about your chances in life.

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4.7/5

Heads and Straights: The Circle Line by Lucy Wadham

From Lucy Wadham, the bestselling author of The Secret Life of France , an autobiographical tale of bohemians, punk, the King's Road in the 1970s and family - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. Lucy is a Chelsea girl, brought up off the King's Road in the seventies when punk was in full bloom. Her family comes in the wonder From Lucy Wadham, the bestselling author of The Secret Life of France , an autobiographical tale of bohemians, punk, the King's Road in the 1970s and family - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. Lucy is a Chelsea girl, brought up off the King's Road in the seventies when punk was in full bloom. Her family comes in the wonderful tradition of English eccentrics. In Heads and Straights , she creates a funny, moving account of a family eager to escape the confines of class. Through interlocking tales of their extravagant and often self-destructive journeys away from the Circle line stops of Sloane Square, South Kensington and Gloucester Road, Lucy evokes the collision between conformism and bohemian excess and the complicated class antipathies that flourished in that particular time and place. In the end we are left wondering - is it ever possible to escape, or do we, in our travels, simply loop back on ourselves?

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4.9/5

Buttoned-Up: The East London Line by Jop van Bennekom , Gert Jonkers

London is a centre of cutting-edge fashion - here, the creators of 'the best fashion mag out there', Fantastic Man, tell the story of London style through the history of the button-down shirt - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. Encompassing music, street style, fashion, portraits, day and night locations, the visual context London is a centre of cutting-edge fashion - here, the creators of 'the best fashion mag out there', Fantastic Man, tell the story of London style through the history of the button-down shirt - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground. Encompassing music, street style, fashion, portraits, day and night locations, the visual context of east London where clothes factories and workshops used to be, night shots where bars and clubs used to be (or still are), an examination of collar shapes and archive images from fashion and music. Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom are the creators of Fantastic Man, a singular modern men's style journal. Here they chart the history of the button-up shirt and explore why it's so central to contemporary London's fashion, design and people. With star contributors, fashion shoots and singular writing, this is a fashion magazine in a book.

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4.8/5

The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History by Douglas Rose

A large format colour diagram, reminiscent of the familiar Underground map. However, this one has a vast amount of factual historical data appended to what is a bespoke design for the purpose. New 8th Ed edition (22 Nov 2007)

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4.2/5

A History of Capitalism According to the Jubilee Line by John O'Farrell

'Sometimes you hear people say "Oh I had a nightmare journey on the tube" and you understand that their commute home on the London Underground was more unpleasant than usual. We don't take the word 'nightmare' to mean that in the middle of a packed carriage they literally realised that they were wearing their pyjamas and then felt their teeth crumbling as their childhood m 'Sometimes you hear people say "Oh I had a nightmare journey on the tube" and you understand that their commute home on the London Underground was more unpleasant than usual. We don't take the word 'nightmare' to mean that in the middle of a packed carriage they literally realised that they were wearing their pyjamas and then felt their teeth crumbling as their childhood maths teacher stood before them pointing and laughing, only it wasn't exactly the Tube because it was also the kitchen.' A Tube train is stuck underground because the economy above has collapsed. How has this happened and how will the passengers get out? Will they have to break the rules of Underground etiquette and actually speak to each other? In John O'Farrell's caustically funny short story, nothing is certain. The city is filled with stories. In twelve books, twelve writers tell their tales of London life, each inspired by a different Underground line. Some are personal, some are polemical; every one is unique. John O'Farrell, author of The Man Who Forgot His Wife, An Utterly Impartial History of Britain and Things Can Only Get Better, turns his comedic genius to the problem of capitalism, encapsulated in a Tube train full of passengers stuck underground – part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground, as TfL celebrates 150 years of the Tube with Penguin.

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4.6/5

No Need to Ask ! by David Leboff , Tim Demuth

This companion volume to Mr Beck's Underground Map traces the large range of geographicallybased maps issued by the companies to promote their rapidly developing Underground system.

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