Manchester Books no.7 Feb/Mar 26

A regular look at new books (fiction and non-fiction) relating to Manchester.

The city may now be part of Greater Manchester but of course it’s historical county is Lancashire.  This time there are three new books relating to the county of Lancashire.  First there is Lancashire; Exploring the Modern County that Made the Modern World by Chris Moss. Rather than a standard history as such, the author, as the blurb states, “reaches beyond the cliches to trace lines from the deep past through to the present day”.  Then we have Lancashire Folktales: a Storied Landscape, illustrated with linocuts by Jacqueline Harris, a retelling of old folk tales.  Finally there is Haunted Lancashire by Stephen Allen, featuring a whole range of strange stories aimed at both believers and sceptics.

Manchester is well known for it’s radical past.   There is a new book on Len Johnson (1902-1974), Manchester born boxer (despite his success he was impeded by the colour bar in the sport in the 1920s) and also activist, particularly in Moss Side. Socialist historian Michael Herbert has produced The story of Len Johnson: Manchester’s Uncrowned Champion Boxer and Communist.  This is a welcome up-date but it is worth saying there are other works available on this significant figure. 

New histories of the city are always worth highlighting and this time we have Manchester: The Biography by Ed Glinert. There is also a new book about the discoveries of Nobel Prize Winner Ernest Rutherford now added to our local collection. Whilst he was not born in Manchester his time at Manchester University (1907-19) was crucial in his scientific discoveries.

Finally, looking to fiction, Midnight on Hanging Bridge by Keira Willis is a new title in the Tib Street Ballroom series. For something a little more quirky there is Miss Riddell and the Pet Thefts, set in 1960s Manchester, and for World War Two fans Maggie’s War by Shirley Mann.