As a London Underground enthusiast, I just couldn't resist what this book had to offer. The sections on the history of the Underground were very informative and easy to read.
But there's more to the book than that. I thoroughly enjoyed every page. The author's conversational (and often amusing) tone lend a lightness to a subject that could otherwise be very dull. The book runs the gamut of subjects--from the underground and now mostly mysterious Fleet to the high-speed cables of British Telecom. It's all there.
This book is an excellent resource for anyone doing research, and a great read if you're fascinated by things beneath the surface.

This is a fantastic history of what's underneath the ground of today's London. Blending history, geography, and engineering, this book describes the smothered streams and covered rivers, the water pipes and sewers, and the tunnels under the Thames.

A major section is devoted to the London Underground - the "Tube" - and its history. The Post Office's automated mail-handling railway is briefly touched on as well.

The role of London's underground spaces during wartime is reviewed including the underground factories and the Cabinet War Rooms of the Second World War.

The book is profusely illustrated with a heavy emphasis on contemporary cut-away and explanatory drawings. The pictures make the text come alive.

A really great book for the Anglophile or London-buff.

It's a great book if you're interested in this sort of thing. From the early beginnings of London's sewers to the modern day tube and postal networks, this book covers it all in a remarkably easy to read fashion. Of particular interest to me were the sections on Londons 'lost' rivers as well as the Underground, both covered in this book. Highly recommended.

This book has a great, easy-to-read style and the case study actually shows how to use these technologies in real life. It clearly explains how to use ADO.NET and XML to build data-intensive applications. The writers clearly know what they are talking about and have been in the trenches.

In 1974 Richard Trench decided to undertake a journalistic investigation of the salt mines in Taoudenni, Mali, which were thought to be the site of slave labor done by prisoners. Salt mining in this part of Africa is an important part of history and lore; salt has been carried to market by camel caravan for centuries, and it was at times so rare that it was reportedly worth its weight in gold. Trench's journey required a carefully planned overland trip on camelback. Trench lived and traveled with nomads through the Sahara to Taoudenni then on to Timbuktu. His account of the journey -- his relationship with his guides, the difficulties of desert travel, encounters with government officials -- is very good reading. "Forbidden Sands" also contains the fruits of his research into the historical record of the region. (Ibn Battuta and Rene Caillie, for example.) A great book for armchair travelers or readers interested in the Eastern Sahara and Mali.