London Under: The Secret History Beneath the Streets
by:
Peter Ackroyd (author)
In this vividly descriptive short study, Peter Ackroyd tunnels down through the geological layers of London, meeting the creatures that dwell in darkness and excavating the lore and mythology beneath the surface. There is a Bronze Age trackway below the Isle of Dogs, Anglo-Saxon graves rest...
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In this vividly descriptive short study, Peter Ackroyd tunnels down through the geological layers of London, meeting the creatures that dwell in darkness and excavating the lore and mythology beneath the surface. There is a Bronze Age trackway below the Isle of Dogs, Anglo-Saxon graves rest under St. Pauls, and the monastery of Whitefriars lies beneath Fleet Street. To go under London is to penetrate history, and Ackroyd's book is filled with the stories unique to this underworld: the hydraulic device used to lower bodies into the catacombs in Kensal Green cemetery; the door in the plinth of the statue of Boadicea on Westminster Bridge that leads to a huge tunnel packed with cables for gas, water, and telephone; the sulphurous fumes on the Underground's Metropolitan Line. Highly imaginative and delightfully entertaining, London Under is Ackroyd at his best.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780307473783 (0307473783)
ASIN: 307473783
Publish date: November 13th 2012
Publisher: Anchor
Pages no: 240
Edition language: English
Finally found out what a catafalque was, thanks to this book. Really dark and dreary. Like Dirty Jobs meets a Mary Roach book.
"Tread carefully over the pavements of London for you are treading on skin, a skein of stone that covers rivers and labyrinths, tunnels and chambers, streams and caverns, pipes and cables, springs and passages, crypts and sewers, creeping things that will never see the light of day." (p. 1)"The bomb...
"Tread carefully over the pavements of London for you are treading on skin, a skein of stone that covers rivers and labyrinths, tunnels and chambers, streams and caverns, pipes and cables, springs and passages, crypts and sewers, creeping things that will never see the light of day." (p. 1)"The bomb...
Parts of the book were really interesting. The first chapter describes London sinking and how things are constantly being built over to the point where I wasn't surprised a King would turn up under a parking lot. The chapters about the subway and how the underground was used during WWII were also ...
Other reviewers have said it all. It's rambly, and would have made a cracking good essay, but it feels padded, which is odd when it's such a short book. Interesting topic, treated poorly.The layout is rather nice though, typography and chapter title pages. (Damning with faint praise much?)