Commuter City
How the Railways Shaped London
Published on 24. January 2020
256 pages
978-1-84468-526-4 (ISBN)
Description
On the eve of the railway age, London was the worlds largest and most populous city and one of the most congested. Traffic-clogged roads and tightly packed buildings meant that travel across the city was tortuous, time-consuming and unpleasant. Then came the railways. They transformed the city and set it on a course of extraordinary development that created the metropolis of the present day. This is story that David Wragg explores in his fascinating new book. He considers the impact of the railways on London and the Home Counties and analyzes the decisions taken by the railway companies, Parliament and local government. He also describes the disruptive effect of the railways which could not be built without massive upheaval. His study of the railway phenomenon will be thought-provoking reading for anyone who is keen to understand the citys expansion and the layout of the capital today.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
David Wragg
Commuter City: How the Railways Shaped London
Book
12/2010
Wharncliffe Books
€44.79
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
David Wragg has published several highly praised books on railway history, and he produced a textbook for the old Chartered Institute of Transport. He has also written on railways for the Sunday Telegraph, The Spectator, The Scotsman, and the Yorkshire Post. His Wartime on the Railways was reviewed by Rail as 'very readable' and by Railways Illustrated as 'as a fascinating insight and also an important record', and Railways Illustrated chose his Southern Railway Handbook as 'Book of the Month'.
One of his most recent publications is The Historical Dictionary of Railways in the British Isles. He is also well known as a writer of military history and provide the British, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand material for On Seas Contested- The Seven Great Navies of the Second World War, published in 2010 by the Naval Institute Press in the United States and which won the Stonebooks award for "The Best Non-Fiction book on World War II" to have been published that year.'
One of his most recent publications is The Historical Dictionary of Railways in the British Isles. He is also well known as a writer of military history and provide the British, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand material for On Seas Contested- The Seven Great Navies of the Second World War, published in 2010 by the Naval Institute Press in the United States and which won the Stonebooks award for "The Best Non-Fiction book on World War II" to have been published that year.'
Content
- Intro
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 The Great Wen
- Chapter 2 The Railway Age Arrives in London
- Chapter 3 Railway Mania and the Great Exhibition
- Chapter 4 Regulation Catches up with the Railways
- Chapter 5 The Mainline System is Completed
- Chapter 6 Making Roads Down to Hell - The Underground
- Chapter 7 Victorian Dynamism
- Chapter 8 The Threat of the Tram
- Chapter 9 La Belle Epoche
- Chapter 10 The Great War
- Chapter 11 Grouping and Recession
- Chapter 12 London's Transport
- Chapter 13 Electrification and the Long Distance Commuter
- Chapter 14 The Second World War
- Chapter 15 Austerity and Nationalisation
- Chapter 16 Rationalising the Railway
- Chapter 17 Expansion and Contraction
- Chapter 18 Sectorisation and Privatisation
- Chapter 19 The Future
- Appendix I
- Appendix II
- Chronology
- Bibliography
- Notes
