Liverpool was a city whose seemingly boundless opportunities bred wealth for the ambitious few and an often precarious lifestyle for its toiling masses. But how far can we penetrate that lost world of working class life in Liverpool? Is it possible to recreate that bustling, noisy, active city? Fortunately, Liverpool’s working classes were being watched. Recording (often, it must be said, with horror) their lifestyles, were a mixture of social commentators. Chief amongst these was local journalist, Hugh Shimmin, and a fresh selection of his best writings is reprinted here. But the...