2,000 Years of Manchester

An enlightening and entertaining portrait of the English city’s history, legends, and lore, including photos and quotations: “Excellent.” —NB Magazine

This is not a chronological history of Manchester filled with names and dates and figures. Rather, it is an eclectic mix of fact, fiction, legend, and myth that presents the history of Manchester from its beginnings as a Roman settlement, then as an insignificant market town, to its place as a city at the heart of the Industrial Revolution and beyond—capturing not only the often tragic lives, times, struggles, and beliefs of the city’s ever-expanding population, but also its resilience and humor.

Including photographs, illustrations, poems and quotes, the book ranges from the funny, including the stories of “Spanking Roger” and the “Manchester Mummy” to the tragic stories of “Cholera” and “Mary Bradley”, together with the bizarre “Pig Tales” and the criminal “Scuttlers” and “Purrers.” For anyone interested in urban, social, or English history, this is a well-researched, well-written, and, most importantly, entertaining and informative read.