The City of Manchester is regarded by many as the world’s first industrial city and where the industrial revolution began. Today many of the trademark Victorian buildings still stand and much of the canal, road and rail infrastructure constructed during the nineteenth century remains. However Manchester has always had the ability to embrace change throughout its history and in recent years has undergone much development and regeneration. New public spaces have been created around modern imaginative buildings with their cutting edge architecture set side by side with fine examples of the more traditionalVictorian buildings, many of which have themselves been internally transformed to meet the needs of today’s Mancunians. In fact it is the imaginative thinking on the refurbishment of old and often derelict buildings that sets Manchester apart. But buildings are just a small part of what is now one of the most dynamic cities in Europe. Year on year there is an ever growing programme of events and festivals held in and around the city centre attracting visitors from all corners of the world to say nothing of the cream of international graduates attracted to the first class university.

Master photographer Mike Heath captures the true spirit of Manchester in 60 lively and candid images in a handy pocket-sized format, which will be an ideal souvenir for both locals and visitors alike.

For nearly thirty years Mike Heath has been combining his hobbies of photography and visiting preserved railways all over Britain, amassing a vast collection of stunning images which have formed the basis for many railway titles he has produced for the Halsgrove Railway series.

Imprint: PiXZ Books. ISBN 978 1 906887 34 6, hardback, 110x155mm, 64 pages. Published September 2009.