Manchester bomb 1996 and the city's regeneration

A powerful 1,500 kg bomb was detonated in the city centre by the IRA (Provisional Irish Republican Army) on Saturday 15 June 1996 causing devastating damage to our city.

Books and Articles

• Euan Kellie, Rebuilding Manchester (2010). This substantial work, containing over 400 illustrations, looks at the story of the city's regeneration since 1996 and how this has helped reverse the city's economic decline (ref L711.4KEL).
• Ray King, Detonation: rebirth of a city (2006). Looks at events on the day of the bomb, the police investigation and the politics of the subsequent regeneration (ref L942.733Kin).
• Jamie Peck and Kevin Ward (ed.), City of revolution: restructuring Manchester (2002). Chapter 8 covers the bomb and the opportunities it presented. Other chapters look at how Manchester has undergone recent urban transformation (ref L338.094273Pe).
• Sarah Lester and Steve Panter (ed.), The Manchester bomb: from devastation to regeneration (2006). Covers the bomb itself, including eyewitness accounts, the story of the arrest of the journalist who published details of the police investigation and the subsequent regeneration (ref Lq942.733Man).
• Manchester Evening News, Fight back: re-birth of the city, one year after the bomb (1997) 44 page supplement. Looks back at the day of the bomb, including personal stories, and details the early plans for regeneration (ref Rf942.733085Ma(844)).
• John Myles and Ian Taylor, After the bomb: public consultation in the rebuilding of Manchester Salford Papers in Sociology 24 (c.2000). Focuses on the consultation that took place regarding the redevelopment of the city (ref R711.55209Myl(266)).
• Gwyndaf Williams, The enterprising city centre: Manchester's development challenge (2003). This academic work uses Manchester City Centre and its regeneration after the bomb as a case study for urban regeneration and transformation. (ref 307.1216Wil)
• Workers Educational Association, After the Manchester bombing (1997). Personal experiences and comments, chronology of events. (ref Rf942.733085Wo(053))

Newspaper clippings

Three volumes of newspaper clippings on the bomb and its after effects.

Maps

• Andrew Taylor, Map of City Centre showing individual buildings. Colour. Scale 1:3500:
  • before the bomb 1st ed. 1996
  • after the bomb 2nd ed. May 1998, 3rd ed. 2001, 4th ed. 2002, 5th ed. 2005, 6th edition 2008
• Manchester Cityscape. 3rd ed. 1996 - before the bomb
• Ordnance Survey maps - sheets SJ8397NE and SJ8397SE. Scale 1:1250:
  • before the bomb1988/1990
  • after the bomb 1999

Images

The Local image collection has some pictures of the affected areas as they were before the bomb (use detailed search and * to specify a decade eg. 198* for the 1980s). It also includes some images of the aftermath of the bomb and a selection of aerial views taken in 2006.

Websites

The Rebuilding Manchester website was devoted to the regeneration of the city centre following the devastation of the bomb.

Follow the references to find out how to access each publication.

Items marked ‘Manchester Collection’ can be viewed at Central Library with no appointment.

Items marked search room needs to be ordered in advance, please make an appointment.