It ripped the heart out of its ugly city centre — miraculously, nobody was killed — and began a regeneration process which continues to the present day.

And Mancunians’ well-known dark sense of humour is one of the many things Andy Spinoza loves about the city.

Born and raised in London, the journalist and public relations guru has lived in the region since 1979, unlike so many southerners who come to Manchester — primarily to attend its universities — and then return home.

Andy’s new book Manchester Unspun (Manchester University Press) describes how leaders harnessed its founders’ radical anarchic visions to create the nation’s fastest-growing city.

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