A Place Apart

Christopher Collier was born in Bramhall, then a village in Cheshire. His loyalties have always been split between nearby Manchester and his home county. He has an MA (history) from Oxford and an MPhil from the Warburg Institute in London, where he studied under the great art historian, Ernst Gombrich. After teaching at an American university he joined Penguin as a commissioning editor, moving on to Book Club Associates, home of the Literary Guild, World Books and Book of the Month Club, where he was latterly Editor-in-Chief. He has also worked as a publishing director and sales and marketing director. For ten years he ran his own foreign rights agency, dealing with publishers worldwide. He has written a blog with a political focus, zenpolitics.me, for the last fourteen years. Six years ago he gave up his long-time London base and moved to Stroud in Gloucestershire.

Preface; Introduction; The Pennine Weaver; Fustianopolis; Cathedrals of Nonconformity; Growing Up; The Waltons of Foster Mill; Connections; Setting Up Shop; Taking the Train; Putting Down Roots; Know Your Greenwoods; Cottonopolis; Game Changers; All the News; Epidemic; Home Affairs; Chapel and Choir; Good Works; Relaxing; The Wider World; Moving House; From Township to Town; The Spencer Children; An Abrupt Departure; Family Scandal; 25. Taking Refuge; 26. Hard Times; 27. Afterlife; Appendix One; Appendix Two; Appendix Three; Appendix Four; Acknowledgements; Notes; Bibliography