Liverpool was a small port on the River Mersey in the medieval period, but started to grow rapidly in the eighteenth century, benefitting from the expanding transatlantic trade. Wealthy merchants built large houses and invested in the city. During the Victorian age, Liverpool was the second largest city in England and there was a massive programme of civic building to demonstrate Liverpool’s standing. The city drew in people from around Britain and further afield and although it suffered heavily during the Second World War, when it was targeted for aerial bombardment by the Luftwaffe because of the importance of its docks and associated industries, and then in the post-war decades as docks declined, it is today a culturally vibrant city. Although much of old Liverpool was lost in the destruction of war and in the attempts to modernise the city post-war, it is once again a thriving commercial centre that is proud of its heritage. Liverpool: The Postcard Collection takes the reader on an evocative journey into Liverpool’s past through a selection of old postcards from the late nineteenth century to the 1940s, which offer a fascinating window into the history of this dynamic city.

Alan Spree is the great-grandson of the postcard publisher John Henry Spree. Alan was born in Nottingham and went to school in Bilborough before moving to Portsmouth and growing up there. His first job was at Portsmouth Dockyard then he gained a degree in Civil Engineering and became a professionally qualified Civil Engineer. He worked with the Department of Environment and Preston City Council before retirement in Spain.