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  • Underground London

  • By: Stephen Smith
  • Narrated by: Karen Cass
  • Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
  • 3.6 out of 5 stars (116 ratings)
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Underground London cover art

Underground London

By: Stephen Smith
Narrated by: Karen Cass
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Summary

What is visible to the naked eye has been exhaustively raked over; in Underground London, acclaimed travel writer Stephen Smith provides an alternative guide and history of the capital. It's a journey through the passages and tunnels of the city, the bunkers and tunnels, crypts and shadows. As well as being a contemporary tour of underground London, it's also an exploration through time: Queen Boudicca lies beneath Platform 10 at King's Cross (legend has it); Dick Turpin fled the Bow Street Runners along secret passages leading from the cellar of the Spaniards pub in North London; the remains of a pre-Christian Mithraic temple have been found near the Bank of England; on the platforms of the now defunct King William Street Underground, posters still warn that 'Careless talk costs lives'.

Stephen Smith uncovers the secrets of the city by walking through sewers, tunnels under such places as Hampton Court, ghost tube stations, and long lost rivers such as the Fleet and the Tyburn. This is 'alternative' history at its best.

©2004 Steven Smith (P)2009 Oakhill Publishing
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about Underground London

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book but some chapters are doubled

Great book and incredibly engaging however there is a repetition of 2/3 chapters randomly in the middle, (Chapter 35-40 I think) which is a little annoying. But this little oddity aside, this is a great listen.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book but audio issues

An excellent book but I experienced issues with the audio. A whole chunk of the book repeated and made it really hard to know how far to skip forward to resume.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting but wrong narrator

In agreement with previous reviews - subject matter is riveting, but why was this read by a woman when written by a man?

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great apart form female narrator

Very interesting story and I wished I lived in London to investigate all the places!

But being writen by a male and read by a female does provide some odd comments and sentences - why was this done I wonder?

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Gender confusion

I would like to know why they chosen to have a book written from a man's point of view read by a woman?

It does detract from the experience.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great information

Looks at some of the things most people don’t know about very well written with great depth of understanding but also very funny in parts

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Shame about the narrator

I enjoyed this book and it is full of interesting facts and stories about what lies beneath the metropolis. The only off putting thing is it is written by a man and read by a woman and for some reason it does not quite work.

But never the less a good 'easy' listen and you can dip in and out which is good if like me you listen in bed and fall asleep and have to keep re winding!

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
  • L
  • 08-07-14

A bit meh

I love history of London and the Underground, but found I couldn't maintain my attention on this. While there were some interesting parts, I was hoping for something as engaging as a Bill Bryson, it's just not that good. Like others, I'm going to ask why the narrator is a woman? At first I thought maybe the author was writing as a lesbian, but later it becomes apparent that no, this woman's voice talking about being a man. Actually the narrator, is otherwise, very good. Didn't return it, but came close to it. It won't get a second listen.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What a pleasant surprise

I grab this title as I was about to lose my credits and was at a loss what book I'd like

I had no real expectations but I'd just finished boris Johnsons book on London so I thought why not

I'm so glad I did, what a funny and informative book, the authors sense of humour is pitched perfectly against what could be a bit of a dry subject, and the performance was great If you have any interest in left of centre history then LISTEN TO THIS BOOK :)

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

All the places you never knew were beneath your feet

From sewers and subways to ancient Roman remains and burial sites of kings this book takes you on a subterranean tour of London. Having been born and brought up in the square mile I was astounded at much of what I read. I highly recommend both the book and the narrator who has a knack of delivery the sometimes poetical descriptions of prosaic underground infrastructure in a dryly humorous style.

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1 person found this helpful