I am a Fellow of Liverpool Hope University, and of the Royal Society of Arts, and have a lifetime of experience in leading and teaching in all professional sectors. I have written 18 books on the history of Liverpool and its City Region, and am currently writing two more, for publication in 2022. I have also produced a series of TV documentaries and a set of audio CDs.
However, my second qualification is that I am a Liverpudlian born and bred, and I am deeply proud of both of these facts.
I love my city and its people (and its unique history and heritage) with genuine passion but no illusions, and I take the greatest pleasure in sharing this with as many people as possible in every medium available to me.
I wrote...
Liverpool: The Rise, Fall and Renaissance of a World Class City
This tells the complete story of Liverpool ‘from the Dinosaurs to Liverpool Waters’. Ken describes how the originally tiny hamlet, on the banks of the ancient Pool, went on to be the home of the world’s first wet dock, canals, railways, and scheduled transatlantic liners ~ as well as much, much more!
It tells how the Medieval town grew to become the social and commercial ‘crossroads of the world’ and how it took its place as the second port and city in the British Empire. The story continues through the centuries to World War Two and finally with the modern rebirth of Liverpool, and the triumphant success as a European Capital of Culture and a World Heritage City and Port.
Published originally in 1957, this is a definitive history of the Town and later City of Liverpool. It gives a detailed overview of the many facets of Liverpool’s history, in a well-researched, fully referenced, and eminently readable form.
It gives details that cannot be found in other publications, and provides the researcher, historian, or simply interested reader an exciting and informative insight into the place and its people.
I love this book because George Chandler loved and cared for the City, and yet was an unbiased observer. He writes with clarity and detail that is informed and driven by that love, and it is a joy to read.
It is also well illustrated with many unique images, maps, and sketches.
Liverpool in the 19th century was actually two cities; one of fabulous wealth (a powerful minority of the population) and the other of grinding poverty and deprivation (the majority of the population).
This divide, and the dreadful living and health conditions of the poorer and working classes led to a great deal of crime, often carried out by violent gangs of mostly young men.
This book tells the stories of how this came about, and of the gangs and their members.
It pulls no punches, and paints a picture of the dark underbelly of what was then ‘The Second City of The British Empire’ that people often choose to ignore.
I love this book for all these reasons!
Victorian Liverpool was a city of abundant wealth and abysmal poverty. By day the broad streets bustled with wealthy merchants making fortunes from the booming dock trade. By nightfall they were taken over by fearsome gangs from the foul courtyards and overcrowded tenements. Shrieks and screams cut the air, while brawls and brutal muggings were commonplace.
The Gangs of Liverpool is a fascinating tour through a long-forgotten netherworld where armed ruffians fought for territory or pride and no man was safe after dark. From warring Catholic and Protestant mobs of the 1850s with names like the Hibernians and the Dead…
Liverpool’s Architecture represents all schools, styles, and tastes, and this book captures exactly that using glorious colour plates for each of the 226 buildings in the book. Each image is supported by a readable but detailed write-up on the history of the building, and an analysis of its style and composition. It also talks about the respective architects, and gives dates and other statistical information where appropriate.
I love this book because it is a tour-de-force by a respected historian and architect who loved his work, and who loved his city. This shows in the book.
It is easy to look at the history of the City of Liverpool and forget that the original town was comparatively tiny, consisting of only seven streets. The modern city is the sum of many parts ~ each of these originally townships or villages in their own right, surrounding the emerging town. As Liverpool grew in size and population it swallowed up these places, and they became the suburbs of Liverpool. This book tells brief histories of many of these and puts them all in context with their dominating conurbation.
I love this book because it is not only fascinating and informative, but it is fun. Its pictures bring the text to life.
The Illustrated History of Liverpool’s Suburbs is the first single-volume history of the development of the residential areas of the city. The author chronicles the growth of the suburbs and illuminates the lives of people who lived in them. His fascinating book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the story of Liverpool. The narrative is illustrated with more than 200 photographs, drawings and maps from Liverpool Record Office – most of which have never been published before. David Lewis shows how the countryside, farms and villages developed into the urban streets, residential areas, shopping districts and industrial estates…
Beautifully and fully illustrated with photographs, sketches, charts, and maps, this tells the triumphant yet tragic tale of a genuine unsung hero of Liverpool and British architecture. Ellis was a many genuinely ahead of his time who built the first building with a steel frame and skeleton, encased in stone cladding. This enabled the creation of the first ‘skyscrapers. His work inspired this major development in building construction, yet he was scorned, castigated, and drummed out of his profession by fellow architects.
I love this book because it tells Ellis’s story fully, and celebrates his work, skill, craftsmanship, and inspiration.
Me and The Times offers a fresh perspective on those pre-internet days when the Sunday sections of The New York Times shaped the country’s political and cultural conversation. Starting in 1967, Robert Stock edited seven of those sections over 30 years, innovating and troublemaking all the way.
His memoir is rich in anecdotes and admissions. At The Times, Jan Morris threw a manuscript at him, he shared an embarrassing moment with Jacqueline Kennedy, and he got the paper sued for $1 million. Along the way, Rod Laver challenged Stock to a tennis match, he played a clarinet duet with superstar Richard Stoltzman, and he shared a Mafia-spiced brunch with Jerry Orbach.
Me and The Times: My wild ride from elevator operator to New York Times editor, columnist, and change agent (1967-97)
An intimate, unvarnished look at the making of the Sunday sections of The New York Times in their pre-internet heyday, back when they shaped the country’s political and cultural conversation.
Over 30 years, Robert Stock edited seven of those sections, innovating, and troublemaking all the way – getting the paper sued for $1 million, locking horns with legendary editors Abe Rosenthal and Max Frankel, and publishing articles that sent the publisher Punch Sulzberger up the wall.
On one level, his memoir tracks Stock’s amazing career from his elevator job at Bonwit Teller to his accidental entry into journalism to his…
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