The Industrial Revolution transformed the sleepy village of Manchester into Britain’s urban powerhouse. More than that, it transformed Manchester from a quintessentially English town into a city that’s anything but conventional—a city of mavericks, rebels, and trendsetters, people who were perpetually challenging the status quo and relentlessly pushing for their rights. Thisis the home of the Co-Operative Movement and Free Trade, the place where Suffragettes began their campaigns, even the place that inspired Engels to help create the Communist Manifesto. Long after the industry that built this city had come and gone, that industrious spirit has remained, coloring the art, music, culture, and attitudes of the city with a revolutionary tint. Mancunians are proud of their heritage and their city; they walk around with a certain swagger to the bars, the clubs, the music venues, even the legendary football venue: it’s the people that give this urban center its character, and they won’t let you forget it. “Manchester...the belly and guts of the Nation,” wrote George Orwell. Indeed.