Step into the Victorian underworld of Angel Meadow, the vilest and most dangerous slum of the Industrial Revolution. In the shadow of the world's first cotton mill, 30,000 souls trapped by poverty are fighting for survival as the British Empire is built upon their backs. Thieves and prostitutes keep company with rats in overcrowded lodging houses and deep cellars on the banks of a black river, the Irk. Gangs of 'scuttlers' stalk the streets in pointed, brass-tripped clogs. Those who evade their clutches are hunted down by cholera and tuberculosis. Lawless drinking dens and a cold slab in the dead house provide the only relief from this filthy and frightening world. Manchester Evening News journalist Dean Kirby takes readers on a hair-raising journey through the alleyways, gin palaces and underground vaults of the nineteenth century Manchester slum considered so diabolical it was re-christened 'hell upon earth' by Friedrich Engels in 1845. Enter Angel Meadow if you dare... AUTHOR: Dean Kirby is a journalist at the Manchester Evening News and has been reporting on news and events in Manchester and the North West for 15 years. During that time, he has covered murders, protests, disturbances and terror raids, and reported on major trials at the city's criminal courts. But most of all he enjoys meeting ordinary Mancunians and telling their extraordinary stories. He has a life-long obsession with history and genealogy. SELLING POINTS: ? This is the first published history of Angel Meadow, a notorious Manchester slum, described by Friedrich Engels in his 1845 Condition of the Working Class in England (1845). Angel Meadow has frequently appeared in the news in recent years, after archaeologists dug up the site in 2011. ? This is not just a local history, however. Angel Meadow was recently featured in Michael's Wood's documentary series, the Great British Story (2012) and the story should appeal to audiences of popular BBC slum drama series, Peaky Blinders and Ripper Street. ? Dean Kirby is a journalist at the Manchester Evening News. He started researching the story of the slum when he discovered that his ancestor William Kirby lived and worked in Angel Meadow. 25-30 images
