An early member of the Haçienda, he reported on the city’s music scene for the 'NME' and 'The Face'. I truly believe, that in time, this will be hailed as one of the most important books ever written about Manchester. The views from St Peter’s Square through Castlefield to the Lowry Centre were, and still are, a brilliant 20 minutes’ advertisement for the resurgent urban centre. R eaders will enjoy the joyous mix of the author’s encounters with a who’s who of famous Mancunians, from Morrissey to Bernard Manning, Shaun Ryder to Sir Alex Ferguson, Frank Sidebottom to Andy Burnham, with walk-on parts from Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Anna Friel, Lemn Sissay, Caroline Aherne, Mick Hucknall and Jonathan Ross. Andy promoted the new, dynamic post-industrial Manchester after setting up as a publicist in 1998, working with Factory Records legends Tony Wilson, Peter Hook and Peter Saville and public figures including Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola.

Last week I attended a 10th anniversary reception for Civic Engineers, a national engineering consultancy that started out in Manchester. The Financial Times and its journalism are subject to a self-regulation regime under the FT Editorial Code of Practice. A personal and sociological look at how its fortunes changed, featuring encounters with all the expected characters like Tony Wilson and even Alex Ferguson. It combines autobiography, with the author arriving in Manchester as a student and then making a life here, with politics, music and lots of fascinating titbits about famous Manchester characters. Essential reading for any Mancunian, for anyone who is into Manchester music, or anyone who is interested in how modern cities are being transformed.It’s a good angle, but the true thrust of the book is provided by the title: Pop, Property and Power in the Original Modern City. The owners were bust and the mortgage bank in possession was bust – and that was the time for gut feeling and decisive action.

I still cringe when I think about that piece and the impact on my prospects for getting work in Manchester were as drastic as they were for Martin.He came to study at Manchester University in 1983 and was soon selling posters in the student union’s markets.

Manchester unspun sorts the truth from the spin of the city’s stories to reveal a remarkable journey, describing the hubris, scandal, money and politics which played out during its remarkable reinvention.I gave, what I thought at the time, was a pretty balanced account, lots of positives but also a few negatives. He was one of the people who set up City Life, Manchester’s slightly edgier version of Time Out magazine.

As an ex-reporter turned PR, the author lays out the story in an accessible, informative and entertaining manner - no mean feat given this is a weighty, in-depth historical account, yet it’s never dry. News from Nowhere will not obtain personal information from other organisations, and will not share, pass on or sell personal information that we hold about individuals to anyone else. Andy Spinoza came to Manchester as a student in the late 1970s and has lived in the city ever since.In a forty-year career he has encountered a who’s who of Manchester personalities, from cultural icons such as Tony Wilson to Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and influential council leaders Sir Richard Leese and Sir Howard Bernstein. Andy is a journalist and PR guru who has written a warts-and-all exposé of the city’s recent renaissance. His remarkable account traces Manchester's gradual emergence from its post-industrial malaise, centring on the legendary nightclub the Hacienda and the cultural renaissance it inspired.