Subway

A dynamically written visual history of the world's largest transit system in all its intriguing, colorful, and even seedy glory packed with compelling information, as well as fascinating graphics and illustrations. New York wouldn't be New York without the subway. This one-time engineering marvel that united and expanded the city has been a cultural touchstone for the last 114 years. Subway is a complete, concise history of the transit system, from the technical obstacles and corruption which impeded plans for an underground rail line in the late 1800s, to the current state of the systems and plans for the future. Interspersed throughout are sidebars and stand-alone sections including profiles of characters who helped make the subway what it is today; graphics and imagery showing the evolution of subway cars, tokens and MetroCards, graffiti, and even subway etiquette ads; how the subway has been characterized in movies, television, and music; a look at abandoned cars and stations and more. A passion project for writer and train-buff John Morris, he brings wit and a journalist's instinct to the book, grabbing readers' attention with fascinating facts and anecdotes, conveying a sense of wonder and fun about the world's largest transit system. With engrossing imagery and a dynamic design, Subway will be a visual feast and must-have gift book for history buffs and train fanatics.>

Auteur

John E. Morris

Texte du rabat

"New York wouldn't be New York without the subway. This one-time engineering marvel that united and expanded the city has been a cultural touchstone for the last 114 years. Somehow though, there has never been a book that celebrates the subway from the scars it left on the city's fabric to the romantic fantasies it unleashed. Subway will convey a sense of wonder and fun about the world's largest transit system. The book will include a complete, concise history of the subway beginning with the technical obstacles and corruption that impeded plans for an underground rail line in the late 1800s, and the visionary and sometimes wacky schemes put forward in that era for subterranean and elevated transport. It will also tell how additional lines were built and how three independent subway systems were merged, creating the mishmash of numbered and lettered lines we have today.Interspersed throughout will be sidebars and stand-alone sections including profiles of characters that helped make the subway what it is (including the mostly forgotten August Belmont Jr., a flamboyant financier who bankrolled the first subway); graphics and imagery showing the evolution of subway cars, tokens and MetroCards, graffiti, and even subway etiquette ads; how the subway has been characterized in movies, television, and music; a look at abandoned cars and stations and more. Packed with compelling stories, fascinating facts and anecdotes, vivid portraits of the people who made the subway and those who saved it, all supplemented with engrossing imagery and a dynamic design, Subway will be a visual feast and must-have gift book, perfect for any coffee table"--