London Under: The Secret History Beneath The Streets (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
The primary problem with this book is Peter Ackroyd. This book isn't so much a history book as a tone poem or amusing essay with unannotated historical tidbits thrown in for framework. It's not really long enough for a proper book, and Ackroyd's long winded and portentious style only makes matters worse.Blah blah underground blah mankind's deepest fears blah blah tunnel dug in 1844. etc.I keep picking up these books, because he chooses to write about such fascinating subjects and then I keep putting them down because he chooses to write about them in such uninteresting ways. Learn from my repeated mistakes, and just skip this one. I won't repeat the complaints of many other readers here. One thing that I really could have used, especially when Ackroyd names station after station or neighborhood after neighborhood as he describes the route of a river, for example, was a map! I am not familiar with London, and I doubt many who do not travel in London every day would know all the stations by heart. The photos and images included in the book are excellent choices, but a map, a reference point, a schematic of where these tunnels, rivers, stations, neighborhoods are would be very useful. As others have said, the chapters are haphazardly organized; there doesn't seem to be a main idea, other than "the underground was thought of as a sacred place and a vile, hellish place;" and there is a significant lack of in depth information.I would recommend this book only as a primer to get some leads about the fascinating subject of London's underground and its history.
What do You think about London Under: The Secret History Beneath The Streets (2011)?
Such a brilliant premise for a book but unfortunately Peter Ackroyd has failed to deliver.
—deepthi94
I got this mainly for the lost rivers material but the whole thing is pretty cool.
—rometo
Written in a very prose-like style but absolutely fascinating...recommended read!
—Lyndar
A hodge podge of random facts that never really conveys anything substantial.
—sydney
Fascinating subject, but I can't stand his prose.
—Aquila
