Headline Review – serie

Following Cardinal Basil Hume's death on 17 June 1999, The Times concluded his obituary with a remarkable accolade: 'Few churchman in this century, inside or outside the Catholic Church, have died more deeply loved.'Basil Hume served as Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster for twenty-three years and his holiness and wisdom made him an extraordinary leader. In this enthralling biography, Anthony Howard, who has had unique access to Cardinal Hume's private papers and the people who knew him best, traces his life, from his Newcastle upbringing through to his schooling at Ampleforth and his reign at Westminster, including his long and ultimately successful fight on behalf of the Maguire Seven and the Guildford Four.

OUR LIVERPOOL is an oral history about the real Liverpool - about the city before its slick transformation to European City of Culture and about the spirit that remains at its heart. Here, at last, is Liverpool's grievous and glorious past. And here, through the people's voices, we find old Liverpool, without the gift-wrap. Its stories pulsate with the rhythms of an alternately funny, flippant, belligerent, stubborn and warm heart, and they broadcast the values of a community, which are the city's true legacy to the modern world. Piers Dudgeon has listened to dozens of people who remember the city as it was, and who have lived through its many changes. They talk of childhood and education, of work and entertainment, of family, community values, health, politics, religion and music. Their stories will make you laugh and cry. It is people's own memories that make history real and this engrossing book captures them vividly.