Underground was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1976. The book’s premise is disarmingly simple: what would you see if you could cut away the surface of a city street and look at what’s underneath? Macaulay’s answer reveals a world of extraordinary complexity — layer upon layer of infrastructure, each serving a different function, all interlocking in ways that most city residents never contemplate.
Starting from the surface and descending, the book reveals: road surfaces and their foundations, water mains, gas pipes, electrical conduits, telephone cables, storm drains, sanitary sewers, steam pipes, subway tunnels, building foundations, parking garages, and — deepest of all — the geological substrate and the archaeological remains of previous settlements.
Macaulay’s cross-section technique is perfectly suited to this subject: by slicing through the ground at various angles, he reveals how different systems relate to each other in three dimensions. The reader learns why subway tunnels must curve around building foundations, why utility workers must be aware of what else is buried nearby, and how the accretion of infrastructure over decades creates a subterranean archaeology of the city’s own development. The book transforms the act of walking down a street — you can never afterward forget what’s beneath your feet.
Collecting Underground
First edition (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1976): Oversize hardcover with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $30–$75
- Very good: $10–$30