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London's Underground: The Story of the Tube
It is impossible to imagine London without the the beating heart of the city, the Underground shuttles over a billion passengers each year below its busy streets and across its leafy suburbs. The distinctive roundel, colour-coded maps and Johnston typeface have become design classics, recognised and imitated worldwide.
Opening in 1863, the first sections were operated by steam engines, yet throughout its long history the Tube has been at the forefront of contemporary design, pioneering building techniques, electrical trains and escalators, and business planning. Architects such as Leslie W. Green and Charles Holden developed a distinctively English version of Modernism, and the latest stations for the Jubilee line extension, Overground and Elizabeth line carry this aesthetic forward into the twenty-first century.
In this major work published in association with Transport for London, Tube expert Oliver Green traces the history of the Underground, following its troubles and triumphs, its wartime and peacetime work, and the essential part it has played in shaping London's economy, geography, tourism and identity. Specially commissioned photography by Benjamin Graham (UK Landscape Photographer of the Year 2017) brings the story to life in vivid portraits of London Underground's stations, tunnels and trains.
Opening in 1863, the first sections were operated by steam engines, yet throughout its long history the Tube has been at the forefront of contemporary design, pioneering building techniques, electrical trains and escalators, and business planning. Architects such as Leslie W. Green and Charles Holden developed a distinctively English version of Modernism, and the latest stations for the Jubilee line extension, Overground and Elizabeth line carry this aesthetic forward into the twenty-first century.
In this major work published in association with Transport for London, Tube expert Oliver Green traces the history of the Underground, following its troubles and triumphs, its wartime and peacetime work, and the essential part it has played in shaping London's economy, geography, tourism and identity. Specially commissioned photography by Benjamin Graham (UK Landscape Photographer of the Year 2017) brings the story to life in vivid portraits of London Underground's stations, tunnels and trains.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 17, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 27, 2021
Alright full disclosure, I read this book for a script that I am writing, but I also low-key love mass transit, so this was work and play. I don't care if you think it's weird for someone to read a book about the history of the London Underground and be enthralled the whole time. It's weird, I know it, but this book was extremely informative and I would have read seven more chapters. Also, the photography in this book is excellent.
November 3, 2023
Nowadays we mostly read on our phones or tablets, and it's easy to forget the pleasurable visceral experience that you feel upon reading a printed book.
This large format book certainly doesn't disappoint, written in collaboration with London Transport, giving the publishers access to the transport authority's vast photo library to reproduce dozens of historic photographs and retro posters showing the development of the London Underground. Award-winning photographer Benjamin Graham gives this book its magnificent pictures of the modern Underground.
As a research fellow at the London Transport Museum, Oliver Green demonstrates his detailed knowledge of the subject. Unlike many academics, he can engagingly write about tunnel engineering, graphic design, station architecture and rolling stock design in an accessible style which moves you effortlessly through the history of the Underground.
This excellently designed book makes use of the Johnson typeface (the corporate style of the Underground). For the folios and the break-outs, an adaption of Beck's coloured map lines is a clever device.
Frank Pick, who did more to unify the Underground to the transport system we've inherited today described the Tube as "the framework of the town", this book brilliantly describes this framework.
This large format book certainly doesn't disappoint, written in collaboration with London Transport, giving the publishers access to the transport authority's vast photo library to reproduce dozens of historic photographs and retro posters showing the development of the London Underground. Award-winning photographer Benjamin Graham gives this book its magnificent pictures of the modern Underground.
As a research fellow at the London Transport Museum, Oliver Green demonstrates his detailed knowledge of the subject. Unlike many academics, he can engagingly write about tunnel engineering, graphic design, station architecture and rolling stock design in an accessible style which moves you effortlessly through the history of the Underground.
This excellently designed book makes use of the Johnson typeface (the corporate style of the Underground). For the folios and the break-outs, an adaption of Beck's coloured map lines is a clever device.
Frank Pick, who did more to unify the Underground to the transport system we've inherited today described the Tube as "the framework of the town", this book brilliantly describes this framework.
December 22, 2022
I’ve been reading this as a coffee table book on and off for the most part of the year in addition to my regular novels; and what a book!
Every time I dipped into this it was either a few pages of interesting facts or stunning pictures. Ever since I first went on the tube as a child I’ve been in awe at its scale, efficiency and ultimately, how something so vast could be created under a city so busy. This book explains it all from the cut and cover method of building underground train lines beneath roads, to the development of the shield method of digging tunnels under the foundations of historic buildings and the river Thames.
From the visionaries, engineers, managers and businessmen John Fowler, Charles Pearson, Charles Yerks to Harry Beck’s iconic tube map design. This covers everything from the first tube in 1863 to the modern Elizabeth Line.
The old-school posters “don’t doze off for 20mins or you’ll end up in Walthamstow!” to the amazing images of the tube architecture and art, this book is richly researched and detailed.
Recommended?: even for those with a passing interest this is a great book. For the history, the art, the images, this is an interesting book at the turn of every page.
Every time I dipped into this it was either a few pages of interesting facts or stunning pictures. Ever since I first went on the tube as a child I’ve been in awe at its scale, efficiency and ultimately, how something so vast could be created under a city so busy. This book explains it all from the cut and cover method of building underground train lines beneath roads, to the development of the shield method of digging tunnels under the foundations of historic buildings and the river Thames.
From the visionaries, engineers, managers and businessmen John Fowler, Charles Pearson, Charles Yerks to Harry Beck’s iconic tube map design. This covers everything from the first tube in 1863 to the modern Elizabeth Line.
The old-school posters “don’t doze off for 20mins or you’ll end up in Walthamstow!” to the amazing images of the tube architecture and art, this book is richly researched and detailed.
Recommended?: even for those with a passing interest this is a great book. For the history, the art, the images, this is an interesting book at the turn of every page.
May 29, 2022
I saw this book after I returned from my trip to London. I was curious about London’s Tube system and how it came to be. I’ve heard that it was also used as a bomb shelter during WW2. I was surprised by how detailed this book was and interesting the history was! It definitely lent to the growth of London and its suburbs. I would recommend this for anybody who had used the Tube and had any curiosity about it.
December 20, 2019
Great history of the "Tube" and exceptional photographs!
August 10, 2025
this was interesting until it wasn’t i would’ve loved if the photos were maps for visual aid
August 15, 2025
a very interesting book , lots of information on the ever developing tube
a must for anyone interested in how the tube came about
brilliant photo throughout its history
a must for anyone interested in how the tube came about
brilliant photo throughout its history
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews