London Underground

Children's Literature

The world that lies beneath the streets of London is revealed to young readers in an easy-to-read text and beautiful color and black and white photographs. This slim book is one in a series by Blackbirch Press and The Learning Channel titled, "Super Structures of the World." The Underground, also known as "the Tube" took six years to complete and 22,000 people to build. The subway system is over 150 years old and carries over 800 million passengers throughout the huge city of London every year. The Tube was an important means of shelter for the people of London during the Blitz in World War II. (The Blitz was when London was bombed repeatedly by German planes.) During the war, some of the tunnels were also used as temporary factories that built aircraft parts for the British Royal Airforce. Some of the important people who devised the subway system were Mark Brunel, a British engineer and James Greathead, another engineer who improved on Brunel's plans. The lines that power the subway are electrical like those of over 100 years ago. Occasionally, accidents do occur in the tube. In 1975 a runaway subway car left the track for some reason and crashed into the side of the tunnel, killing 42 people. New dangers of today, such as terror threats to the subway system, are discussed. An index and a glossary are also included. This is an excellent informative resource for library media centers and classrooms. 2004, Blackbirch Press, Ages 9 to 12.
—Sue Reichard