Underground Overground by Andrew Martin

If you've ever wondered who is responsible for the announcements on the Northern line, or why Bakerloo line trains don't have armrests, then this engaging and witty social history of the London underground is guaranteed to beguile. A self-confessed aficionado of the tube, Martin is a highly entertaining guide to the stygian depths of subterranean London in all its absurd, confusing glory. Although he never says it so glibly, in his account the tube becomes a microcosm of urban society, from its inauspicious beginnings in 1863 as a suspiciously regarded plaything for City clerks to its current state as a totemic, barely controllable artery through London's bowels. Offbeat anecdotes abound (such as tube suicides remaining comparatively rare because of the very English fear of exposing oneself to unnecessary notice) and Martin is never shy of highlighting what he sees as its controllers' cant or folly. Some finer details will perhaps be of interest only to civic engineers or lovers of Victorian excess, but this compact yet comprehensive study should help pass the time for anyone unlucky enough to find themselves stuck in a tunnel awaiting "further announcements".