Böcker av Stephen Butt

This illustrated history portrays one of England's finest cities - Leicester. Using photographs taken from the unique Historic England Archive.

Explores the lives of the people who changed the way we shop and helped develop Britain's high streets.

For the people of Leicester, the 1960s was a decade of great social and economic change. It was to see a revolution in social attitudes reflected in the popular music of the time, in fashion, and in the print and broadcast media. Life changed for everyone. Railway stations closed as the motor vehicle grew in popularity. National Service ended, the pirate radio stations were scuppered, colour television became available, and the fashion garments manufactured by Leicester's giant textile companies were very different and sometimes extreme as hemlines rose dramatically. Changing attitudes led to social conflict between parents and children, teachers and pupils. Meanwhile, the teenagers danced at Il Rondo to The Who and Fleetwood Mac, and swooned to The Beatles at the De Montfort Hall. In Leicester in the 1960s, Stephen Butt charts the excitement and vibrancy of the 'Swinging Sixties' and reflects also on the economic and social problems that were just beneath the surface.

Tourism was born in Market Harborough in 1841 when Thomas Cook, a local cabinetmaker, set off towards Leicester and had his dream of worldwide working-class travel. The town was born to serve travellers. Centuries before, the town had been built to provide a market place for trades-people near to the 'new' highway connecting Northampton and Leicester. Eight hundred years later, the market is still busy, though now indoors, and the original Square is still bustling with shoppers. As a boy on the playing fields of the local school, former England team captain Martin Johnson discovered his finesse in Rugby. In the nineteenth century, William Symington and his family put Market Harborough on the manufacturing map by creating pea flour and a range of tempting sauces. In the last century the town could claim to be a 'crisp capital' of England, being the home of Golden Wonder crisps.

There is a history of Leicester that is hidden from view, or simply not recognised today because it is so familiar. There are Norman and medieval arches below landmark buildings, mosaics beneath the Central Ring Road and the remains of the town's first railway station just minutes away from a major hotel. 'Secret Leicester' goes behind the facades of the familiar to discover the lesser-known artefacts of Leicester's fascinating past, brought to life through revealing images of the past and the present.