The Subterranean Railway: How the London Underground was Built and How it Changed the City Forever - Tapa dura

Since Victorian times, London's Underground has made an extraordinary contribution to the economy of the capital and 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.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, the story comes right up to the present with its sleek, driverless trains and the wrangles over the future of the system. Subterranean Railway reveals London's hidden wonder and shows how the railway beneath the streets helped create the city we know today.

Christian Wolmar, 'Britain's most astute transport observer' (New Statesman),is a writer and broadcaster whose previous books have included Broken Rails: How Privatisation Wrecked Britain's Railways and, most recently, Down the Tube: The Battle For London's Underground (both Aurum Press). He writes regularly for The Independent and Evening Standard, principally on railway matters, and is a frequent broadcaster on TV and radio on current affairs and news programmes.