Liverpool : Britain in Old Photographs

Liverpool in Old Photographs brings to life the history of a famous port and city over the past century. Concentrating on its varied shipping and unparalleled waterfront, its historic streets and buildings of outstanding architectural interest, together with the lives of ordinary citizens, this well-illustrated book affords an opportunity to look back on what has now become a ''city of change and challenge''. Driven by poverty, cholera and unemployment, thousands flocked to the city in the 19th century, hoping to either settle there or to use it as a springboard to a better life through the cheap means of escape offered by the shipping companies. Jobs in the New World and wealth in the Australian gold fields beckoned, but overcrowding resulted in slums developing alongside some of the finest buildings in Europe. Pride in achievement and strength in adversity, coupled with grit and humour, characterise this ''Scouse'' port, imbuing it with a phoenix-like quality of survival. This book, with over 200 photographs tells a great story.