Liverpool: A people's history
Peter AughtonClick HERE to download some sample pages. The illustrations you see are extremely low resolution, but you will get some idea of how beautiful the book is.
Available either in hardback or softback
Liverpool is indisputably one of the greatest cities on earth. From its warm, tough, always-beating heart come people renowned for their friendliness, wit, resilience and strength of character. Throughout its long and surprisingly varied history Liverpool has engendered fierce loyalty from its citizens, and captivated even the most casual of visitors. Liverpool: A People's History tells the full story of this unique place in a way which celebrates the individuals who have shaped it, often allowing witnesses from the past to speak for themselves. This book traces the growth of the city from a little fishing village on the banks of the Mersey all the way from its foundation in 1207 to the proud European Capital of Culture 800 years later. Combining good historical research with a lively, fresh and highly accessible style, Peter Aughton describes every stage of Liverpool's remarkable history: from its origins as a tiny port in the tidal inlet known as the ‘Liver Pool’, to the horrors of the slave trade, the building of the world's first ever public railway, its brief spell in the eighteenth century as a fashionable spa town, its unprecedented growth as the major seaport for the world’s first industrial society, its role in a mass emigration movement that saw perhaps as many as nine million souls depart from its quaysides for a better life in the New World, the devastation to docks, public buildings and houses caused during the terrible Blitz in 1941, the Mersey Sound which now draws thousands of visitors from around the world, right up to the recent renaissance of the town's fortunes which has culminated in the European Capital of Culture bid success. This is a truly fascinating story.
Reviews
'a fascinating history intertwined with ‘conversations’ with contemporary characters ... This short review of 340 pages packed with information cannot do justice this excellent book which is packed with detail ... The book is lavishly illustrated and the publishers are to be congratulated on the quality of the printing.' W.J. Taylor, Lancashire Magazine
from Amazon.co.uk
'This is the best city history I have read...I am not an avid reader, but this book was gripping from beginning to end, not least due to the superb range of historical maps of Liverpool illustrated within. For anyone interested in Liverpool or old maps of Liverpool, then this is the book to get.'
A. Taylor
'...Full of useful information, pictures and old maps, many in colour. As a Mancunian, with Liverpudlian ancestors I'm sure it will keep me busy for hours'!
M. Sharpley
'This really is an excellent book... filling in all the gaps, with really interesting text and some great maps. It brings history alive.'
P. Adams
