Although Liverpool’s history goes back to the Middle Ages, the opening of the port to the Atlantic trade in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries allowed it to grow rapidly. It became one of the richest cities in the country and as a port city attracted settlers from across the British Isles and the rest of Europe and beyond. The city still boasts an impressive legacy of buildings from this era, although many have been lost following industrial decline, Second World War aerial bombardment and post-war urban planning. During the last century, many who were living in social housing in the city centre were moved out to the suburbs and although the city suffered in the period of industrial decline following the reduction of the docks and manufacturing industries, today the city is thriving again with evidence of massive regeneration along the waterfront and across much of the rest of the city.

Liverpool Reflections features an exciting collection of historic and modern pictures that are individually merged to reveal how the city has changed over the decades. Each of the 180 pictures in this book combines a recent colour view of Liverpool with the matching sepia archive scene. Through the split-image effect, readers can see how streets, buildings and everyday life have transformed with the passing of time. Author Dan Longman presents this fascinating visual chronicle that ingeniously reflects past and present glimpses of Liverpool. This book will be of interest to residents, visitors, local historians and all those with links to the city.