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London Under Peter Ackroyd Books

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London Under Peter Ackroyd Books

My mind is boggled by the immensity of the research that must have gone into creating this book. It is a collection of facts that is almost unbelievable in scope. For a person who is doing a scholarly study of the topic, this book will be an invaluable resource.

However, I was hoping for a little entertainment. Okay, I admit that I silently mouthed, "Wow!" two or three times. There are a couple of fascinating tidbits scattered here and there. However, here is a typical example of the writing:

"From Marylebone Lane the Tyburn follows a southward course across Oxford Street, where it then turns southeast into South Moulton Lane. Brook Street is named after it. It then pursues a circuitous course through Mayfair before finally emerging into Down Street where naturally enough it descends into Picadilly.... The Tyburn then crosses Green Park, flows past..."

You get the idea. Nearly the entire book reads like this, a dry, boring recitation of facts that few people would be interested in. This is too bad, because this book could have been made into a masterpiece with a little more imagination and a touch of drama.

Tim


Tags : Amazon.com: London Under (9780099287377): Peter Ackroyd: Books,Peter Ackroyd,London Under,Vintage Books,0099287374,History Europe Great Britain General

London Under Peter Ackroyd Books Reviews

Perfect background for those planning to visit London. Fast and well written. Ackroyd gives just the right insights to enable us to recognize and appreciate the noted sites when we see them.
Since my team is building an archaeology model of a section of an earlier time of London, this book served an fascinating background with lots of unique stories and data.

The book arrived on time and was well packaged.
The information in this book was clearly used by Neil Gaiman to write "Neverwhere". Reading this book makes reading his book much more fun & interesting!
Very interesting but it became tedious when the author would list off the streets or areas underground tunnels ran under as if I was a London cabbie. I don't know where all those places are! Really, a series of maps would have illustrated the points much better (but probably shaved 30 pages off at least).
If you love London, you'll enjoy this book. Peter Ackroyd shows us a London we've never seen before by going underground. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the history of the city and what lies beneath the pavement and buildings. It was fascinating to learn about the various public works projects that led to today's London. Amazing to think that entire rivers were buried beneath the city. And to learn about what the men who built the sewers and underground endured. This is an original take on a city that's been written about extensively. If you live in London or are visiting, it would be great fun to take this book and look for the landmarks Ackroyd points out in the book.
I am a college history professor who hates it when my students ask for books with more pictures. It used to make me think they were just lazy. However, I found myself wishing for modern images when reading this. There are some images, which are great, but I wanted to see more. I read this book in a day, partly because it is "short" book--meaning that it is not as tall or wide as a normal paper back. The best chapter by far was the one on the Mole People, but there were some chapters I found myself skimming just to get through with them.
(Note This review is of the hardcover edition.)

"Order and harmony are the properties of the lighted world. All below is shapeless, formless, void. Forgotten things, discarded things, secret things, are to be found deep below." - from LONDON UNDER

Author Peter Ackroyd's previous book, London The Biography, was a prodigious achievement albeit mildly schizophrenic. Here in LONDON UNDER, Ackroyd embellishes his story of the city with aspects of it that he perhaps felt he didn't fully explore on the first go.

Even in its hardcover edition, LONDON UNDER isn't a large volume - only 205 pages measuring seven inches by five. In fifteen chapters, Peter burrows below the streets to reveal what remains of times past and what is extant at present. Among the former are burial crypts, forgotten wells, walls and streets, sunken boats, personal artifacts, and the occasional hidden treasure. Among the latter are sewers, the Tube, and secret government warrens. Spanning the centuries of both are the ancient rivers and streams that still flow into the Thames, e.g. the Fleet River

"On the corner of Warner Street and Ray Street, in the road before the Coach and Horses pub, a piece of grating can be found. If you put your ear close to it, you can still hear the sound of the river pulsing underneath. It is not dead." (Note As in exercise in current Web technology and capability, find the street intersection mentioned using the satellite mode of Google Maps. Then, transition to the street view with the little yellow man. You too can find that street grating.)

Furthermore, the book is about people below ground those that constructed, scavenged and toured the sewers; those that built, sheltered in, and ride the Underground. And those that have died below the surface. Even about ghosts.

LONDON UNDER is certainly not an in-depth survey, so to speak; its length doesn't allow for that. The evolution of the city's sewage and underground rail systems provides most of the material. But even then, the structure of the book is more of a congenial and simplified summary focusing on the more interesting highlights. If you want more detail on any particular topic, then you'll have to look elsewhere, e.g. Necropolis, which surveys London's role as a burial ground both past and present.

The reader with no interest in London will not even find it worthwhile to crack open the pages of this little book. But, because I love this city more than any other place in the world I've visited in my sixty-four years, I'm giving it 5 stars because it totally engaged my memories of the place and my constant desire to return.

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." - Samuel Johnson
My mind is boggled by the immensity of the research that must have gone into creating this book. It is a collection of facts that is almost unbelievable in scope. For a person who is doing a scholarly study of the topic, this book will be an invaluable resource.

However, I was hoping for a little entertainment. Okay, I admit that I silently mouthed, "Wow!" two or three times. There are a couple of fascinating tidbits scattered here and there. However, here is a typical example of the writing

"From Marylebone Lane the Tyburn follows a southward course across Oxford Street, where it then turns southeast into South Moulton Lane. Brook Street is named after it. It then pursues a circuitous course through Mayfair before finally emerging into Down Street where naturally enough it descends into Picadilly.... The Tyburn then crosses Green Park, flows past..."

You get the idea. Nearly the entire book reads like this, a dry, boring recitation of facts that few people would be interested in. This is too bad, because this book could have been made into a masterpiece with a little more imagination and a touch of drama.

Tim