Why am I passionate about this?
I've been obsessed with the material aspects of places - and the infrastructures that make them work - since I was a really young boy! (I remember, aged around 7, sitting on a bridge over the M6 motorway near Preston watching the traffic). This obsession was channeled into studying Geography, becoming a qualified urban planner, and completing a Ph.D. on how digital technologies effect urban life. A preoccupation with the subterranean realms of cities is also long-standing; it drove the 'Below' parts of my 2016 book Vertical: The City From Satellites to Bunkers. (I must admit I suffer from both claustropobia and vertigo! So, sadly, a lot of my work is necessarily desk-based!)
Stephen's book list on the subterranean of cities
Why did Stephen love this book?
This book was pivotal in sparking my fascination for the secretive and mysterious worlds beneath cities.
It is the definitive guide to the vast assemblage of underground spaces, infrastructures, and nooks and crannies beneath the streets of London.
The coverage of the book is remarkable and will really help readers that are new to the theme to appreciate the huge range of spaces and infrastructures that lurk hidden far beneath London’s streets.
The book opened my eyes to culverted and hidden rivers; to sewers, water, and hydraulic pipes and tunnels under the Thames; and to underground transport systems, hidden power and communications grids, and labyrinths of bunkers.
Most important for me were the book’s amazing array of maps, lithographs, and photographs.
2 authors picked London Under London as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
A revised edition of a guide covering the latest underground developments in London, such as the substation beneath Leicester Square, underground railways and glass fibre communication together with a gazetteer of places open to the public.