Книга Great Tramways Conspiracy Mick Hamer

Great Tramways Conspiracy

The covert campaign that killed off the British tram

Автор: Mick Hamer
Език: Английски език
Корици: С твърди корици
Издател: Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Наличност: 50% вероятност
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32.68 63.92 лв
Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of London to witness the royal opening of the Lond...

Информация за книгата

Автор
Език
Английски език
Корици
Книга - С твърди корици
Издадена
2026
страници
232
EAN
9781036143343
Enbook ID
50944976
Издател
Теглоt
890
Размери
172 x 246

Пълно описание

Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of London to witness the royal opening of the London County Council’s first electric trams in 1903. The people loved their trams. But trams had powerful enemies. In the 1920s the tram-haters became increasingly vociferous. Articles and letters in the press condemned trams as old-fashioned and called for them to be scrapped. Over the past seven years, Mick Hamer has scoured the archives to uncover evidence of a campaign that was meant to be forever hidden. The Great Tramways Conspiracy reveals the untold story of a strategy to smear trams as obsolete and drive them off the roads. The campaign employed a propaganda technique now known as astroturfing, which gives the impression of a grassroots movement while promoting vested interests. Commonly found on social media today, a century ago, hired hacks bombarded the letters columns of newspapers to get the message across. Bankrolling this campaign were the oil companies – and lurking even deeper in the shadows were the security services, which used their propaganda expertise to provide the campaign organisers with handy hints. The incessant labelling of trams as obsolete became common currency and the mud stuck. In 1931 the Royal Commission on Transport, which was dominated by tram-hating motorists, called for trams to be scrapped. There was no pushback. The tram industry was riven by internal dissent, and the motor industry assiduously courted the malcontents. In the face of this onslaught the tram industry capitulated and the country’s tramways closed.