Stephen Halliday

With water making up around 70 per cent of the earth's surface and 50 to 65 per cent of the human body, it is only fair to see ourselves as just a little waterlogged. Water is essential to human life and an important component of human history. Humans have generally settled near convenient sources of water and most of the great ancient civilizations depended on a particular source of water. London was no exception, owing its growth and development as England's first city to the rich potential of the Thames as a source of drinking water and power and as a means of communication. During the Industrial Revolution, the growth of commerce placed intolerable pressures on an inadequate road system. A new means of cheap and rapid transportation was needed, marking the beginning of the great age of canals. In the next great advance - steam trains - water was again to play an essential part. Water has brought disaster and disease, such as the nineteenth century cholera epidemic yet conversely spas and sea-bathing show the health-giving side of water. It is surprising how little attention water receives in historical accounts. Stephen Halliday's new book explores the beneficial and harmful ef

London's Underground is one of the best-known and distinctive aspects of the city. Since Victorian Times, this remarkable feat of engineering has made an extraordinary contribrution to the economy of the capital and played a vital role in the daily life of generations of Londonders. Stephen Halliday's informative, entertaining, wide-ranging history of the Underground celebrates the vision and determination of the Victorian Pioneers who conceived this revolutionary transport system. His book records the scandal, disappointments, and disasters that have punctuated the story and the careers of the gifted, dedicated, sometimes corrupt individuals that have shaped it's history. It also gives a fascinating insight into the neglected, often unseen aspects of this subterranean system - the dense network of tunnels, shafts and chambers that have been created beneath the city streets. STEPHEN HALLIDAY is an authority on the history of London, with a special interest in the great engineering and construction works which created the modern city. He is the author of The Great Stink of London: Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the Cleansing of the Victorian Metropolis.

‘An extraordinary history’ - Peter Ackroyd, The Times‘A lively account of (Bazalgette’s) magnificent achievements. . . graphically illustrated’ - Hermione Hobhouse‘Halliday is good on sanitary engineering and even better on cloaca, crud and putrefaction . . . (he) writes with the relish of one who savours his subject and has deeply researched it. . . splendidly illustrated’ - Ruth RendellIn the sweltering summer of 1858, sewage generated by over two million Londoners was pouring into the Thames, producing a stink so offensive that it drove Members of Parliament from the chamber of the House of Commons.The Times called the crisis ‘The Great Stink’. Parliament had to act – drastic measures were required to clean the Thames and to improve London’s primitive system of sanitation. The great engineer entrusted with this enormous task was Sir Joseph Bazalgette, who rose to the challenge and built the system of intercepting sewers, pumping stations and treatment works that serves London to this day. In the process, he cleansed the Thames and helped banish cholera.The Great Stink of London offers a vivid insight into Bazalgette’s achievements and the era in which he worked and lived, including his heroic battles with politicians and bureaucrats that would transform the face and health of the world’s then largest city.

Since Victorian times, London's Underground has made an extraordinary contribution to the economy of the capital and has played a vital role in the daily life of generations of Londoners.