"This book by internationally-recognised port historian, Dr. Adrian Jarvis, is the first new comprehensive history of the Port of Liverpool to have been written for over forty years. Whilst Liverpool was founded by King John in 1207, it was only in the last quarter of the 17th century that Liverpool really began the process that was to take it to the level where it arguably became the No 1 export port in the whole British Empire. Liverpool the port and Liverpool the city have always been inextricably linked and this comes across strongly in Adrian's highly readable narrative. All the big themes are covered - from the creation of the world's first enclosed wet dock to the part played by the slave trade, privateering, cotton and the great shipping lines such as Cunard, White Star, Blue Funnel, Ocean Steamship, Leyland etc. The great entrepreneurs, the merchant class and the dockers who made it all happen are given their due too. The development of the Port's dock system ? stretching for nearly seven miles along both banks of the Mersey, and one of the wonders of the 19th century world - is looked at in some detail. You may already be familiar with the names of some of these great docks - Albert, Princes, Gladstone and Royal Seaforth to name just a few. The book concentrates on the crucial 300 years between 1672 and 1972, the year that the Mersey Docks & Harbour Board virtually abandoned the entire South Docks system. By then the Port of Liverpool had faced decades of decline caused by two World Wars, changing patterns of world trade, dock labour problems and containerisation, and more besides. Comprising 280 pages, the book is lavishly illustrated throughout in colour and black and white."--Provided by the publisher.