The three big moments that have made Manchester what it is today

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

"Manchester’s story is one of birth, growth into Victorian grandeur, catastrophic decline by the 1980s and recent recovery. The eyes of the world are upon it once more as it has become a test case for how post-industrial cities can reinvent themselves." In his new book, Brian Groom, an author who grew up in and around Manchester and now lives in Saddleworth, attempts to provide a definitive history of a city whose recent economic growth and gleaming skyscrapers attract envious glances from many other parts of the country. Read more: "This is a historic gem": Manchester's oldest building is up for sale The former Financial Times journalist hit the best-seller list two years ago with his book 'Northerners' charting the history of the entire North of England.

He's now narrowed his focus to writing a history of Britain's second city through the people who have made it, from campaigners like Emmeline Pankhurst, industrialists and Tony Wilson, the founder of Factory Records.

Speaking on The Northern Agenda podcast about 'Made In Manchester: A People’s History of the City that Shaped the Modern World', Mr Groom picks out three periods of Manchester's history that made it what it is today. Listen to Brian Groom talk about his book at the link below: "Firstly the obvious one is the end of the 18th century, beginning of the 19th century.

It's the period when the great Lancashire industrialist Richard Arkwright gave the city its first cotton spinning mill in 1781. "And that was a source of wonder and crowds gathered every day to watch its huge chimney being erected.