A story of enterprise and innovation, industry, science, technology and education, of music, performance from sport, of political ferment and popular protests, of urban growth and migration, of poverty and wealth, of slum and suburb. This is the story of a city which took centre stage in world history during the industrial revolution. Manchester was the first industrial city and arguably the first modern city. During the industrial revolution it became the centre of the world's trade in cotton goods, so associated with that product that it was known as 'Cottonopolis'. In the 19th century Manchester was recognised across the globe as a symbol of industrialism and modernity and its global reach encompassed the political and economic ideas. Manchester was simultaneously the home of the capitalist ideology of Free Trade (famously naming its chief public building in honour of this idea) and the place where Marx and Engels plotted the communist revolution. The history of modern Manchester opens doors to an understanding of how science helped shape the modern world from the discoveries of Dalton and Joule to Rutherford's splitting of the atom, the first stored-programme computer and the invention of graphene. But Manchester has also been home to sporting and cultural achievements from the prowess of its football teams to its media presence in television. The city has been the venue for the expression of numerous voices of protest and affirmation from the Peterloo demonstrators in 1819 to the Suffragettes nearly a century later and the Gay protests of more recent times. It has always been a cosmopolitan city with a lively mix of ethnic groups that has added celebration and tension to its cultural and social life. Over time the population growth in and around Manchester generated an urban sprawl that became a city region. 'Greater Manchester' has been a reality for over a century and along with Greater London is the only metropolitan region to be named after its core city. As the industrial base on which the city and region had depended for two centuries collapsed in the later 20th century, the city had to take a new path and is now recognised as the post-industrial city that has been most successful in reinventing itself. Written by leading experts and with numerous insights and unexpected stories, this is a profusely illustrated book including colour posters about Manchester docks, architectural references and plans, Watts warehouse in Portland Street, engravings including a portrait of John Dalton 1814 and a painting of the Mayfield Printworks among the hundreds of colour images plus contemporary photos. Heavyweight paperback, 436 pages, 24.38 x 18 cm.
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