Liverpool 800: Character, Culture, History

by John Belchem (editor)

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 city's 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 book's 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.

532 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2006

Reviews

[Jason Pettus · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this review, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

Hey, guess who just celebrated their 800th anniversary, and used the opportunity to commission a freaking doorstop of a book concerning the fact? That's right, it's the English city of Liverpool, which also happens to be this year's "European Capital of Culture" as designated by the EU. And man, what a job John Belcham and the team at Liverpool University Press have done with the resulting Liverpool 800: Culture, Character and History; it is a gorgeous book, an exhaustive book, a book that could literally take you months to get through if you decided to read every single word and scan every single image. This is one of those books to ask for as a holiday or birthday gift, one that's not only entertaining and intelligent but will look great on your coffee table; ah, I always love it when cities have an excuse to put together giant and beautiful surveys of their history like this.

Out of 10: 9.5

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this a lot - read it for pleasure as much as for my research. It covers a lot of ground but it did feel quite unevenly paced - I felt that the final chapter in particular could have benefited from being split into two sections.

It was slightly more academic than I was expecting, but for me this was a good thing - plenty of further sources to check out at a later date.

Despite being compiled of work by different authors, there were clear themes running throughout the book that gave a good sense of Liverpool’s identity and culture. This was an excellent starting point for my research on this area.

[Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of an academics book than a straight forward look at the history of Liverpool and each chapter is written by different academics . It is a book that is well worth the effort of reading and I learnt some fascinating stuff about my home city. It is a book that you can dip in and out of but it does not really lend itself to that type of reading. Glad I made the effort to get through and enjoyed all the various contributions.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book about my home city.I originally bought this as a present for my Dad and I now have it.Well worth a read

[Martin Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

A weighty but fascinating account of a fascinating city I had the privilege to be born and bred in.