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The Tunnel Through Time
The Tunnel Through Time
Oct 10, 2024 8:17 AM

Author:Gillian Tindall

The Tunnel Through Time

Newly opened by Queen Elizabeth II herself, discover the history and secret stories of the people who've lived above London's newest trainline.

Crossrail, or the 'Elizabeth' line, is just the latest way of traversing the very old east-west route through the former countryside, into the capital, and out again. Throughout The Tunnel Through Time, renowned historian Gillian Tindall uncovers the lives of those who walked this ancient path.

These people spoke the names of ancient farms, manors and slums that now belong to our squares and tube stations. Visiting Stepney, Liverpool Street, Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street, Tindall traces the course of many of these historical journeys across time as well as space.

'Enchanting' Sunday Telegraph

'Deftly weaves together archaeology, social history, politics, myth, religion and philosophy' The Times

'Fully of lively vignettes' Spectator

Reviews

Tindall has an eye for a good line. Her sources are eclectic and illuminating...The Tunnel Through Time is a book to savour. It is subtle, considered and powerfully evocative of London's "changeful" landscape.

—— Daily Telegraph

Tindall is a sure-footed, even revelatory guide to the treasures of London that Crossrail has unintentionally brought to our notice.

—— Jerry White , Guardian

In this engaging book Gillian Tindall ... a veteran historian with an eye for the macabre, the quirky and the absurd ... deftly weaves together archaeology, social history, politics, myth, religion and philosophy

—— Richard Morrison , The Times

Ms Tindall skilfully blends ancient histories, archaeological findings and contemporary context

—— The Economist

These underground stories remind us that buried spaces are places of protection as well as of the fearfully unknown, of hope and of political resistance, of science as well as of persistently chthonic mythology. There’s always a quirky and sometimes a grisly journey to be had beneath our streets

—— Evening Standard

[Gillian Tindall] has long been interested in resurrecting the lives of some of the hosts of the London dead who, as she says, lie "under our busy, careless feet". By following Crossrail's route, both below and over ground ... she has found a new and rewarding way of doing so

—— Nick Rennison , Sunday Times

Tindall delivers a fine, concise account of the early history of the Tube… In its research, its anecdotes and its historical imagination, The Tunnel Through Time is a readable journey across a two millennium-old route.

—— Edwin Heathcote , Financial Times

[It is] enchanting.

—— Sunday Telegraph

[The Tunnel Through Time is] absorbing.

—— Sunday Times

The hidden tales she recounts are the distilled results of knowledge acquired over decades by a veteran historian with an eye for the macabre, the quirky and the absurd…she deftly weaves together archaeology, social history, politics, myth, religion and philosophy…expect to be constantly surprised, even if you think you know London well.

—— The Times

Meticulously researched and full of lively vignettes.

—— Spectator

What differentiates Tindall…is the sheer scale of her enterprise and the breadth of her knowledge.

—— Literary Review

These underground stories remind us that buried spaces are places of protection as well as of the fearfully unknown, of hope and of political resistance, of science as well as of persistently chthonic mythology. There’s always a quirky and sometimes a grisly journey to be had beneath our streets.

—— Evening Standard

The book is at its best when Tindall is concerned with the city’s guts, the workings, when she lets herself witness this great transformation of our own time. Transport aficionados will appreciate her attention to detail while general readers will be heartened to be introduced to this mysterious world.

—— Craig Taylor , Observer

[Tindall] has written an absorbing account… This is a work of love and scholarship.

—— Catholic Herald

A thoughtful and engaging interpretation of London’s history through metaphors of tunneling and excavation.

—— Richard Dennis , History Today

Enchanting.

—— Daily Telegraph

Fascinating… One of her strengths is to discover historical first-person narratives, and this, plus her extensive research, make her book an entertaining and informative read

—— Chris Nancollas , Tablet

Engaging… It’s an entertaining book. Crossrail should stock copies on its trains, ready for the inevitable day when signal failure traps thousands of us between Bedlam and a plague pit.

—— Richard Morrison , The Times
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