A History of the University of Manchester - Tapa dura

Frank and entertaining account of the University of Manchester's struggle to meet the Government's demands for the rapid expansion of higher education in the 1950s and the 1960s. Looks at the University's ambitious building program: the controversial attempts to reform its constitution and improve its communications amid demands for greater democracy in the workplace, the struggle to retain its old pre-eminence in a competitive world where new 'green field' universities were rivalling older civic institutions. Tells the story, not just from the point of view of administrators and academics, but also from those of students and support staff (such as secretaries, technicians and engineers). Uses, not only official records, but also student newspapers, political pamphlets, and reminisences collected through interviews conducted by an experienced oral historian. The only book on the University of Manchester as a whole.

Brian Pullan is Emeritus Professor of Modern History at the University of Manchester