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

As a lifelong Edinburgh resident I've heard stories of the underground city all my life, and the emergence of this book offered the promise of a full and final explanation of what's really there and what isn't. However, aside from a reasonably interesting general history of old Edinburgh, the book is astonishingly lacking in facts of any kind. It's all conjecture, rumour and myth. At least fifty percent of the book is merely a series of fables and ghost stories with absolutely no descernable facts or evidence to either back them up or dismiss them.

If someone's going to bother writing a book on the underground city, wouldn't you expect them to have something to TELL? Not so Jan-Andrew Henderson. For him the gathering together of a few myths and legends was enough. No solid research, maps, plans or diagrams, descriptions of exactly what remains of the underground city; No reports of excavations, eyewitness accounts; no rummaging through old property plans or title deeds to discover reports of mysterious doorways in lost cellars that seem to lead nowhere. None of this.

If you're really interested in learning about the underground city you'd be better off saving your money, and instead paying a visit to one of Edinburgh's many pubs in the old town, where you'll encounter characters who can tell you much more about it than anything in this book


Fascinating Author, Fascinating Stories   April 22, 2001
 5 out of 8 found this review helpful

I must start by saying that I haven't actually read this book. I did, however, visit Edinburgh a week ago and embark upon a tour of the old city that focused sites of murder and mayhem. On that tour, my guide was Jan-Andrew Henderson. He brought an overlarge group of American teenagers to silent, rapt attention with his description of the old city of Edinburgh inside the Floyden wall. We ended at Greyfriar's churchyard, home to 400 monuments and approximately 800,000 bodies. He was a charismatic and knowledgable story-teller, and if he writes at all in the manner in which he speaks, anything he could put on paper would be worth reading. ~ Interested in History

P.S. On this tour Henderson made no mention of his name or plug for his book. I found out his identity later from my overall holiday tour guide (completely independent from Henderson's tour) who had accompanied my school group for the experience.


Fascinating and Chilling!   December 23, 2000
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I only gave this book 4 stars because I felt that it was too short and abbreviated. Then again, I'm the type of person who likes rich historical details. The author doesn't bore you with dates or technical details, the story of the origins of Edinburgh's underground city are told with a marvelous gift of oratory, making you feel like you're hearing a story told in front of a fire, a story that grows more and more chilling.

The story is simple, due to overpopulation, numerous underground chambers and vaults were built to accommodate the fast growth of Edinburgh's Old Town. The poorest of the poor lived in these dark cramped vaults and more often than not died there too, having never known anything but poverty and misery. You are told of the kinds of people who lived there: villians and widows, families and loners. You hear of how they lived, from the people too sickly to work to the poor children forced to climb inside chimneys to clean them. Full of misery, disease and hoplessness, it's no wonder the underground city has gained a reputation for being haunted.

Tales of the supernatural happenings are also found in this book, tales of a mischeivious yet harmless ghost who haunts a pub to the frightening stories of tourists and tour guides alike being assaulted by unseen hands and claws.

Whether a history buff or a fan of ghosts stories, you're sure to enjoy this book. It's easy reading, educational AND entertaining.


Very entertaining!   March 11, 2008
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I found this book to be very entertaining and interesting! I don't usually like "ghost stories", and do not believe in ghosts (though I don't want to go looking for them in case I'm wrong...ha, ha); however, having been in Edinburgh 5 months ago, the underground city fascinated me. Though the book can often only reference "stories" and can not be factual, since most of the items in this book are impossible to verify, the author includes a lot of accurate historical information too. I took a tour of South Bridge when I was visiting Edinburgh, and fortunately, did not encounter any ghosts or strange occurences. After reading the section on South Bridge, I was even more glad that I didn't encounter any strange incidences (ha, ha). The author does not try to sell you anything and doesn't use his book as a publicity plug, which is nice. I recommend this book for its entertaining and interesting information!