The underground man
By: Mick Jackson.
Publisher: William Morrow
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 262
Subjects: Portland, William John Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, -- Duke of, -- 1800-1879 -- Fiction.; Excavation -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction.; Eccentrics and eccentricities -- Great Britain -- Fiction.; Nobility -- Great Britain -- Fiction.
Description: William John Cavendish Bentinck Scott, the fifth Duke of Portland, who died in 1879, was a singularly eccentric man. What sets him apart from other famous eccentrics is the fact that he had the wealth to indulge his manias to the fullest. Perhaps his greatest achievement was to have a vast network of underground tunnels built beneath his estate, from which, with his horses and carriages, he could secretly escape to the outside world.

On a visit to the Duke's establishment, which still more or less stands, Mick Jackson became fascinated not only by the tunnels but by the stories that surrounded the memory of this strange man. He began to embroider them with fictional ideas of his own, and with the tales the local people passed on to him. Some of the characters' names in the book are genuine, as indeed are some of the most bizarre details.

The actual narrative is, however, pure invention, filled not only with tales of the Duke, but also with the excitement and discoveries of the age in which he lived, and the mysteries that we are still exploring.