The Town Below the Ground: Edinburgh's Legendary Underground City

"The Town Below the Ground" can easily be read in a single sitting. The writing style is breezy and basic, somewhat similar to what one would find a tour guide booklet. The book is written in two parts: history and tales. I found the history portion of the book quite interesting, informative, and entertaining. The tales portion, however, seemed like I was reading unconnected blog post stories, none of which were very interesting or entertaining. And the tales certainly were not "spine-chilling," as is printed on the front cover of the book.In fact several tales covered in the book have nothing to do with Edinburgh's underground. One tale having nothing to do with Edinburgh's underground was "The Worst Poet in the World," though I found this to be one of the best written chapters in the entire book.As a history buff, I came away disappointed after reading "The Town Below the Ground." The author, Jan-Andrew Henderson, seems to have a decent writing style. Unfortunately, in this book his writing style is not put to good use in combination with good research or depth of information. If you are looking for an entertaining and very quick read about Edinburgh, then this book is adequate. If you are interested is history, then I believe you will be disappointed.

I wish I had read this book prior to my last trip to Edinburgh! Even though I knew a bit about the history of the city and the underground vaults and such, it would have been a treat to have this book with me on the trip. That being said - it is definitely going with me on my return vacation this year.The book is a very easy and entertaining read giving you the behind the scenes info about one of the most wonderful cities to sight see.From the underground passages and vaults to the many ghost stories associated with them, I read this book from cover to cover trying to soak up every detail.If you are planning to go, or went to Edinburgh without knowing the history of the city below, this book will not disappoint.

I bought the original of this book while in Edinburgh. It was a fascinating read, so I bought several copies as gifts. Lent my copy to someone & never got it back. Found this on Amazon & was delighted! Read it again. Just as good the second time!

Great history of Edinburgh...wished I read this before I visited there...explains the whys and how Edinburgh underground came to be and what to expect if you take a tour….must read before you go or just as a fun read.

If you go don't go w/o reading this book about the underground town or you won't appreciate the underground town tour half as much.

Unique stories about the ghosts of the Edinburgh vaults. I mostly night this book for the history of how they came to be. This book have a good summary of Edinburgh's unique architectural history.

This is a fascinating book, especially if history is your thing or your ancestors lived in Edinburgh. Both of these are true in my case.Its given me an insight into the way they lived.

Bought this as a gift for my husband before we travel to Scotland. He is also a Henderson so he got a kit out of reading something by a "cousin" of his. He really enjoyed reading it.

We have just been on a visit to Edinburgh bought as a voucher present to us by dear friends. We had limited time (and I was suffering from cystitis which blighted our walks) but I tried to do my homework in advance by buying relevant paperbacks and e-books on the subject. We have a ghost at our French home so I am quite prepared to believe about those mentioned in this book, though we didn't take the tour of the underground city that was on offer. I must confess that I am a lily-livered claustrophobe! The detailed description of the growth of the city of Edinburgh, upwards and downwards, within its walled boundary were fascinating and I found this book very interesting. Recommended.

Don't get me wrong - it's not a terrible book. It's just not that good either.It's interesting in parts but there's just not that much about the actual "town below the ground" itself.The first part of the book covers the geographical history of the area and the original fortifications which became Edinburgh. Then there is some stuff about the actual underground of Edinburgh which was interesting but there just wasn't much of it and it was that I was looking for when I bought the book. The second half of the book is filled with various ghost stories which are all well and good (and creepy at times as they're apparently all true) but not what I was expecting from this book.The illustrations are in a haphazard random order too and don't correspond to the sections of text in which they're situated.This book could have been so much better.

I was amazed by what went on in the underground of Edinburgh Having lived in Edinburgh this book revealed so many stories and interesting story. It was a short book but nevertheless have a good story of Edinburgh

Bought this book after the Edinburgh trip, the 'underground' tour guide recommended it. By reading though, interesting, but not much more compare to what I have already heard from the tour. so if you already done the underground tour, may not need this anymore.

I bought this, mistakenly thinking it was a book about Real Mary King's Close - although the Close does get mentioned, this book covers a far wider spectrum covering dwellings and businesses below other Closes (a partial underground close was discovered beneath the Tron Church and a pub) and the bridges within the city.It's actually a very informative book and a must read for anyone who is interested in Edinburgh's history and for those who recognise places in Edinburgh by their placenames and can visualise them when they're not actually there, then this book is even better and offers more enjoyment value.