Manchester Unspun

Author: Andy Spinoza

Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside | Autobiography: literary | Social & cultural history | Popular culture

Published on 7^th November 2023 by Manchester University Press in the United Kingdom.

Paperback / softback | 384 pages, 55 black & white illustrations
139mm x 215mm x 33mm | 498g

At the end of the 1970s, Manchester seemed to be sliding into the dustbin of history. Today the city is an international destination for culture and sport, and one of the fastest-growing urban regions in Europe. This book offers a first-hand account of what happened in between.

Arriving in Manchester as a wide-eyed student in 1979, Andy Spinoza went on to establish the arts magazine City Life before working for the Manchester Evening News and creating his own PR firm. In a forty-year career he has encountered a who’s who of Manchester personalities, from cultural icons such as Tony Wilson to Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and influential council leaders Sir Richard Leese and Sir Howard Bernstein.

His remarkable account traces Manchester’s gradual emergence from its post-industrial malaise, centring on the legendary nightclub the Haçienda and the cultural renaissance it inspired. -- .