Manchester, England

A music history like no other, Manchester England comes complete with a recommended soundtrack for each chapter evoking aural memories as Haslam unleashes an assembled cast of artists, musicians, hooligans, writers, workers, students, entrepreneurs and poets playing out a unique history of a unique city.

Haslam is not the first to write on Manchester's musical heritage, but while many of his predecessors' overwhelming desire was to cry "me! me! me!", hoping to convince us that they were there and that, as such, they had something to do with the numerous mini cultural revolutions that have taken place in the city, Haslam's approach to Manchester is different. His meticulous style contrasts with the rough, eager spontaneity of his subject, yet the book works because of this. Mapping out the city's creative and industrial history from the early 19th century to the ecstasy-fuelled dance culture of the 80s and 90s, you begin to realise the profound extent to which the city has always been part of a cycle of cultural upheaval, innovation and desperation. A mix of immigrant cultures and classes at loggerheads: it's this cocktail of human influence that has enabled the city not just to survive, but to inspire its populous to innovate rather than imitate.

From "Immigrants, Merchants and Anarchists", via "Punk, Post Punk and the Punk Postman", to "Hard Times and Basslines", the headlines alone reveal the eclectic references uniquely brought together here, united not for the purpose of self-congratulatory navel-gazing but to enable an understanding of the city's past and its future. Haslam presents a completely holistic view of how Manchester has ended up, for better or worse, the city it is today. "We're living in an uneasy city in a very tough world ... but the so-called experts ... can't stifle the desire to break the silence", Haslam tells us, asserting that creativity in the city has always won out, not just in spite of, but because of the challenges that face it.

Manchester England is not simply about Dave Haslam flexing his academic muscle alongside his DJ-ing credentials. The book is absorbing, insightful and entertaining. There's been enough overblown hype surrounding this rainy Northern city. Haslam's earnest and intelligent approach betrays his quiet conviction that "on the third day", as the t-shirts used to shout, "God did create Manchester". --Tony Martin

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Outsiders View of Manchestere - Rated
Reads like a University dissertation. I'm afraid factually it's pretty poor when it comes to Manchester post punk. Too many important people left out of the book who helped create the whole scene, and Manchester did have a scene before Dave Haslam trolled up via University doing his Student nights from his native Birmingham in 1986.Lots about what Dave did and even his Fanzine Debris , very little about the impooirtant radio shows and Tv shows and newspaper columns , plugging companies and local magazines that breathed life into the scene(unless they were mates of Daves or had a lower profile than him) , no mention of people like Hewan Clarke ( first DJ to play House at The Hacienda ) or the numerous so called indie/soul/dance nights that had existed in Manchester for many years before that( Berlin Club , Devilles, even Rafters) . Needs redoing without the subtle greater glory of Dave Haslam in it. Anthony H Wilson hated this book as did many others in Manchester because they saw it as some middle class student trying to sequester the local scene- it's worked partly for Dave, just a shame he wasn't around in the sixties, seventies and early eighties, how did we manage without him.

Ambitious book for an ambitious city - Rated
Haslam takes on a big project here. He could've stuck to his niche and just covered more recent developments on the music scene but he digs deep, really deep, and the book is so much richer for it. If you love Manchester you love 'Manchester, England'.

Unsung hero - Rated
One of the real reasons the 'Madchester' thing happened was Dave Haslam. Where indie and dance were previously like oil and water, Dave would mix up hip hop with The Fall or the psychedelic Beatles and it somehow worked. For me, the most eye-opening part of the book is when he pinpoints the week he thought he noticed something beginning to happen on the Hacienda dancefloor - late August 1986. Purely by coincidence, I moved to Manchester a week later and made a bee-line for the club. So I got to see with my own eyes how Fac51 went from being a cavernous white elephant to the coolest place on Earth.

I'd recommend this book to anyone with an interest in why Manchester and dance music in particular are inextricably linked. Machine rhythm is in the soul of the city. If you don't believe me, visit the science museum and have a listen.

Better than I could have expected. - Rated
I expected to be reading an interesting book about a period of 15 years in Manchester. What I actually read was a fascinating book that transported me from Manchester 200+ years ago through to the end of the Millenium. The book tracks social history in Manchester over the last 200+ years (it touched briefly on the Romans at Castlefield!) Most of all, it gives the history of places and people that would suprise many Mancunians (I am a Manc, by the way). I wish that we had been given this book to read at school. I might have been better informed about my city of birth. Buy this book - you will love it!

DJ or Social Scientist? - Rated
This book was a real surprise, originally bought for my Manchester styled headonist boyfriend, i began reading this myself, as it was recommended reading for a social science course i was taking.
The last thing i expected was an extemely well written, and well researched study into the history of Manchester's music and club scene, stretching back to the start of the industrial revolution, and taking into account the social conditions and politics of the day.
This book is not a superficial, single-opinioned coffee-table read. I honestly expected something more along the lines of Tony Wilson's '24 hour party people', what i got was an indepth and well researched study into the social, political, and economic development of Manchester.
At times it seemed a little slow to get going, but on the whole a gr8 book.