North South Penguin Underground Lines

Read stories inspired by the four Underground lines that run North and South through city - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground, as Tfl celebrates 150 years of the Tube with Penguin. Comedy and capitalism join in four tales: The Northern Line: William Leith, author of The Hungry Years and Bits of Me Are Falling Apart, tells, in A Northern Line Minute, the darkly humorous tales of his escapades on the Tube. The Bakerloo Line: Paul Morley, author, journalist and cultural commentator, tells the story in Earthbound of post-punk, music and changing times. The Victoria Line: Kids Company, a leading London charity supported by Prince Charles, Helen Mirren and Stephen Fry, presents the voices of some of London's children, in partnership with the charity's founder Camila Batmanghelidjh. The Jubilee Line: John O'Farrell, author of The Man Who Forgot His Wife and An Utterly Impartial History of Britain turns his comedic genius to the problem of capitalism, encapsulated in a Tube train full of passengers stuck underground.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Tube, the Penguin Underground Lines brings together 12 books by writers ranging from John O'Farrell to John Lanchester, Lucy Wadham to the Kids' Company Name: Penguin Underground Lines Date of Birth: will be born 7th March 2013 Vital statistics: Twelve books, one for each Underground line, to celebrate the Tube's 150th anniversary Idea for series: Penguin asked twelve people to tell their tale of the city in 15,000 words (or in one case, no words at all), each inspired by a different tube line. Defining characteristics: While the responses range from the polemical to the fantastical, the personal to the societal, they offer something for every taste. Read individually they're delightful small reads, pulled together they offer a particular portrait of a global city. The 12 authors: Fantastic Man; Kids Company; Danny Dorling; John Lanchester; William Leith; Richard Mabey; Paul Morley; John O'Farrell; Philippe Parreno; Leanne Shapton; Lucy Wadham; Peter York 'Authors include the masterly John Lanchester, the children of Kids Company, comic John O'Farrell and social geographer Danny Dorling. Ranging from the polemical to the fantastical, the personal to the societal, they offer something for every taste. All experience the city as a cultural phenomenon and notice its nature and its people. Read individually they're delightful small reads, pulled together they offer a particular portrait of a global city' Evening Standard 'Exquisitely diverse' The Times 'Eclectic and broad-minded ... beautifully designed' Tom Cox, Observer 'A fascinating collection with a wide range of styles and themes. The design qualities are excellent, as you might expect from Penguin with a consistent look and feel while allowing distinctive covers for each book. This is a very pleasing set of books' A Common Reader blog 'The contrasts and transitions between books are as stirring as the books themselves ... A multidimensional literary jigsaw' Londonist 'A series of short, sharp, city-based vignettes - some personal, some political and some pictorial ... each inimitable author finds that our city is complicated but ultimately connected, full of wit, and just the right amount of grit' Fabric Magazine 'A collection of beautiful books' Grazia

Read stories inspired by the four Underground lines that run East and West through city - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground, as Tfl celebrates 150 years of the Tube with Penguin. The District Line: John Lanchester, author of Whoops! and Capital takes us on a whirlwind tour of the Tube to show its secrets, just how much we take for granted about it, and what we're really talking about, since we so often do talk about it. In short, he shows what a marvel it is. The Central Line: Geographer Danny Dorling tells the stories of the people who live along 32 stops of the Central Line to illustrate the extent and impact of inequality in Britain today. The Piccadilly Line: Peter York, co-author of the 80s bestseller, The Sloane Ranger Handbook charts the progress of the dream of grandeur and aspiration in London and chronicles London's elites. The Hammersmith & City Line: Artist and filmmaker, Philippe Parreno, who created the documentary Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, takes us on a unique voyage through London - a journey without the typical purposes of a journey, an artistic, psychogeographical path.

Read stories inspired by the four Underground lines that run around and through areas of London - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground, as Tfl celebrates 150 years of the Tube with Penguin. Family, passion and fashion come together in four tales: The Circle Line: From Lucy Wadham, the bestselling author of The Secret Life of France, an autobiographical tale of bohemians, punk, the King's Road in the 1970s and family. The Metropolitan Line: Richard Mabey, one of Britain's leading nature writers, looks in A Good Parcel of English Soil at the relationship between city and country, and how this brings out the power of nature The East London Line: London is a centre of cutting-edge fashion - here, the creators of 'the best fashion mag out there', Fantastic Man, tell the story of London style through the history of the button-down shirt. The Waterloo & City Line: Leanne Shapton, author of Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris and Swimming Studies, creates an authorly and artistic response to travel, work and being a passenger.

Part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground, this title tells the darkly humorous tales of the author's escapades on the Tube. It tells the stories of the people who live along The 32 Stops of the Central Line to illustrate the extent and impact of inequality in Britain.

Why is the Victoria Line so hot? What is an Electrical Multiple Unit? Is it really possible to ride from King's Cross to King's Cross on the Circle line? The London Underground is the oldest, most sprawling and illogical metropolitan transport system in the world, the result of a series of botch-jobs and improvisations.Yet it transports over one billion passengers every year - and this figure is rising. It is iconic, recognised the world over, and loved and despised by Londoners in equal measure. Blending reportage, humour and personal encounters, Andrew Martin embarks on a wonderfully engaging social history of London's underground railway system (which despite its name, is in fact fifty-five per cent overground). Underground, Overground is a highly enjoyable, witty and informative history of everything you need to know about the Tube.