Liverpool 800: Character, Culture, History - Softcover

John Belchem (ed.)

4.56

18 ratings by Goodreads

9781846310355: Liverpool 800: Character, Culture, History

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1846310350 ISBN 13: 9781846310355

Publisher: Liverpool University Press, 2006

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Liverpool celebrates its 800th anniversary in 2007, and will be European Capital of Culture in 2008. As the city reinvents itself and looks forward, it is also learning from its past. Liverpool 800: Culture, Character & History is written by a team of experts, using the latest historical research to explore the citys distinctive culture and character. This is a path-breaking biography of the city, tracing its society, politics, economy and culture over eight centuries. Fully illustrated and powerfully written, it offers new perspectives on a true World City, as it works to make its future as extraordinary as its past. The books publication will become a centrepiece of the 800 the anniversary Liverpool Year of Heritage celebrations in 2007. Ranging widely over politics and government, famous and infamous personalities, domestic lives and global connections, and culture both high and low, Liverpool 800 offers a warts and all portrait of a city which has inspired contempt (a black spot on the Mersey) and adulation (the centre of consciousness of the human universe) but rarely indifference. Elegantly designed and including over 300 illustrations, many of which have never been published before, Liverpool 800 is a superb anniversary celebration of a great city and its people.

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Review:

"This excellent book reminds us that there is more to Liverpool than the Beatles or such stereotypes as Koppites with dodgy perms... it is grounded in solid academic research, accessibly written and richly illustrated. Even Mancunians might like it."--BBC History Magazine

"Liverpool 800: Culture, Character & History provides a long overdue reappraisal of Liverpool's chequered history...Lavishly illustrated, this is a vibrant, stylish and witty book."--Times Literary Supplement

"This is an altogether rich work of history ... The range of sources used and the multiplicity of people and incidents discussed by Belchem and his colleagues are remarkable ... Liverpool 800 sets a standard for other city centenary histories to emulate."--Urban History

"This is a fascinating book. It is certainly not a conventional city history. This is not the past for past's sake, nor nostalgia for lost civic glory, it is a very much a composition to explain the present. Liverpool 800 will appeal mainly to readers who have already some interest in the city."--Northern History

Synopsis:

Ancestry and origin fascinate America. Study of the genealogy of this rich and diverse nation establishes a seldom recognized fact: the importance of Liverpool in its foundation. As the leading European port of migration to America millions of emigrants flowed down the quayside of Liverpool docks in search of new adventures on the other side of the Atlantic; as the world's leading slave port Liverpool also played a part in the forced upheaval of less willing migrants. Liverpool was also a centre for international fundraising and espionage during the US Civil War and was the Headquarters of the Atlantic command, controlling British and American shipping under attack in the Second World War. More recently the City's influence on America has been cultural: the birthplace of the Beatles, home of one of the world's most famous soccer teams, and surprisingly, its streets are a frequent double for the US in both British and American made movies. The City of New York was awarded the prestigious Freedom of the City of Liverpool in 2003, and Liverpool has official friendship links with both Memphis and New Orleans.

In anticipation of the City's 800th anniversary in 2007, "Liverpool 800" is the definitive biography of this magnificent world city. The book uses the latest historical research to explore the life of Liverpool over eight centuries right up to the present day, and includes detailed sections on politics, economy, and culture. Written by experts on Liverpool history such as Donald M. MacRaild and Golin G. Pooley and incorporating exquisite color illustrations, "Liverpool 800" offers an insider's perspective on the City the European Union has named "European Capital of Culture" for 2008.

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