In population terms, Liverpool isn't a vast city (dwarfed by Birmingham, say), but it looms colossal in the history (recorded & mythical) of the British Isles, & in fact the world. Real Liverpool is Niall Griffiths' antidote to the flood of mawkish twaddle that will appear in the build-up to 2008 when Liverpool is European City of Culture. It showcases Griffiths' love/hate relationship with the city, its maritime & merchant histories, class divisions, sectarian divides, Celtic influences, & the siege mentality underpinning the celebrated Scouse humour. Nor does he flinch from Liverpool's dark side: the drugs, the urban blight, the fallout from Thatcherism, the internecine violence. Jamie Bulger, Heysel, Hillsborough, the Dockers' Strike, the Toxeth Riots, all of these & more are discussed. Real Liverpool is underpinned by a strong autobiographical element which details the author's birth & formative years in the city, his movement away from it, & the abiding pull it exerts. In addition, Griffiths interviews many people closely connected to the city, from personal friends & family members to artists & workers. From the Wirral to Warrington, Anfield to Everton, Bottle to Diddyl&, Griffiths criss-crosses the city by the Ferry & through the Tunnels, from John Lennon airport to the racecourse & down the docks, building a picture of a city which, whatever its faults, is never dull.