Liverpool - Paul Barker

Boasting perhaps the most spectacular setting of any city in Britain, and at one time second only to London as the great port of Europe and transatlantic trade, Liverpool was a won the competition to become European Capital of Culture in 2008. This book is an unashamed visual celebration of the finest of the city's architectural and cultural heritage, by one of Britain's leading photographers. Ranging from the distinguished elegance of Wood's 18th-century town hall and the numerous classical terraces still to be found around the University, to the spectacular and unprecedented originality of Elmes St Georges Hall, which forms a kind of cultural foil to the colossal and magnificent contemporary commercial Albert Docks of Jesse Hartley, the book culminates with the 20th century's 'Three Graces' at the Pierhead, and the two sensational cathedrals. And in amongst the architectural splendour, the spirit of the ordinary Liverpudlian is also captured.