A visual exploration of historical Manchester’s rapid growth into a “shock city” – and how slavery was key to the emergence of Cottonopolis
Present-day Manchester is home to 552,000 residents, at the centre of a wider region of 2.87 million, the product of three centuries of migration and economic change.
It is a city with a global reputation for its cultural and sporting influence, a long list of world firsts in science and technology, and as a centre of political reform movements.