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    Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet
    Unavailable
    Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet
    Unavailable
    Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet
    Audiobook6 hours

    Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet

    Published by Penguin Random House Audio

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A panoramic investigation of the subterranean landscape, from sacred caves and derelict subway stations to nuclear bunkers and ancient underground cities—an exploration of the history, science, architecture, and mythology of the worlds beneath our feet

    When Will Hunt was sixteen years old, he discovered an abandoned tunnel that ran beneath his house in Providence, Rhode Island. His first tunnel trips inspired a lifelong fascination with exploring underground worlds, from the derelict subway stations and sewers of New York City to the sacred caves, catacombs, and tombs, from bunkers to ancient underground cities in more than twenty countries around the world. Underground is both a personal exploration of Hunt's obsession and a panoramic study of how we are all connected to the underground, how caves and other dark hollows have frightened and enchanted, repelled and captivated, us through the ages.

    In a narrative spanning continents and epochs, Hunt follows a cast of subterranea-philes who have dedicated themselves to investigating underground worlds. He tracks the origins of life with a team of NASA microbiologists a mile beneath the Black Hills, camps out for three days with urban explorers in the catacombs and sewers of Paris, descends with an Aboriginal family into a 35,000-year-old sacred mine in the Australian outback, follows a ghostlike graffiti artist writing stories in the subway tunnels of New York, and glimpses a sacred sculpture molded by Paleolithic artists in the depths of a cave in the Pyrenees.

    Each adventure is woven with findings in mythology and anthropology, natural history and neuroscience, literature and philosophy. In elegant and graceful prose, Hunt cures us of our "surface chauvinism," opening our eyes to the planet's hidden dimension. He reveals how the subterranean landscape gave shape to our most basic beliefs, including how we think about ourselves as humans. At bottom, Underground is a meditation on the allure of darkness, the power of mystery, and our eternal desire to connect with what we cannot see.

    Editor's Note

    Dig deeper…

    Will Hunt let the wonder of the underground take him through labyrinths many of us don’t even know about to reveal the wild and wonder of life below the surface. Hunt’s work will answer questions you didn’t even know you had about underground pathways, and ignite a desire to dig even deeper into these niches. Perfect reading for your next subway ride.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJan 29, 2019
    ISBN9780525627197
    Unavailable
    Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet

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    Reviews for Underground

    4/5

    13 ratings2 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A fascinating journey through the world of the unseen. The passion of the author for the subject of the book is apparent every step of the way. What a great listen.
    • 2/5
      I am no sure what really captured my interest with regard to the human history of the underground. It was ill founded. I am an avid book reader/listener. This book represents one of 70 so far this year. I found most of the book difficult in keeping my attention span.

      Will Hunt provides you with a picture of many that have spend their lives exploring underground. To me, this seems like too many have wasted their lives accomplishing nothing! It is really sad. On a positive note, one chapter focused on the caves withing the French-Italian Alps, toward the end of the book. Another focused on the caves used by members of ancient cults (spiritual rituals) in the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico). I personally considered these to give the book some redeeming value.

      If exploring the underground is your thing, you may like the book. I really don't like giving poor book reviews, unless the author is an incompetent. I don't think that way of this author at all. I just found the book to be mind numbly boring in general.

      I simply don't see where this kind of adventure (unless unearthing something of archaeological value) is worth the risk of a human life should one succumb to an accident. But, it takes all kinds of people to make up the world.