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

The doyenne of London history travels over and under our great capital to reveal the layers of human existence underlying the Crossrail route as the new line through the heart of London takes shape

About the Author
Gillian Tindall is a master of miniaturist history, well known for the quality of her writing and the scrupulousness of her research; she makes a handful of people, a few locations or a dramatic event stand for the much larger picture, as her seminal book The Fields Beneath, approached the history of Kentish Town, London. She has also written on London's Southbank (The House by the Thames), on southern English counties (Three Houses, Many Lives), and the Left Bank (Footprints in Paris), amongst other locations, as well as biography and prize-winning novels. She has lived in the same London house for over fifty years.

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 *



Book Information
ISBN 9780099587798
Author Gillian Tindall
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Vintage
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 223g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 19mm