HarperNorth lands people's history of Manchester from Groom

HarperNorth has landed Made in Manchester: A People’s History of the City that Shaped the Modern World, the sequel to Northerners, by Brian Groom. 

Jonathan de Peyer, senior commissioning editor, acquired world all-language rights from Andrew Lownie at the Andrew Lownie Literary Agency. The book will be published in May 2024. 

A historical narrative of Manchester’s history of sport, music, literature and ideas Made in Manchester is a "lucid and wide-ranging" account of the city’s earliest days during the Roman era through to the likes of Emmeline Pankhurst, Anthony Burgess, and the bands Oasis and New Order. 

De Peyer said: "Brian has quickly established himself as the leading authority on the history of northern England, and so too Manchester. Born and raised in Stretford, there’s no one better than him to peel back the layers of this ancient but very, very modern city."

Groom added: "For me this work is obviously personal, yet the story is a universal one of a city’s rise to global prominence, decline to near-death and miraculous rebirth. Manchester shaped humanity’s future in the Industrial Revolution. Now it has a chance to influence how people live together in the 21st century."