Scouse Republic by David Swift - ISBN: 9781408719695
Paperback
Liverpool: How history forged a fiercely independent, uniquely Scouse identity.

Scouse Republic

An Alternative History of Liverpool

$29.08

  • Paperback

    320 pages

  • Release Date

    9 June 2026

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Summary

Liverpool is a unique city within the United Kingdom - in terms of its dialect, hedonism, friendliness, rejection of ‘Englishness’, and most pertinently, its politics. It is a bastion of working-class left-wing politics like no other - as evidenced by the suspension of a Liverpool FC match after the death of the Queen, for fear the Liverpool fans would boo the minute’s silence. Yet it was not always so, and Liverpool’s transformation from a stronghold of working-class Toryism to its current i…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781408719695
ISBN-10:140871969X
Author:David Swift
Publisher:Little, Brown Book Group
Imprint:Constable
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:320
Release Date:9 June 2026
Weight:260g
Dimensions:196mm x 124mm x 26mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

Liverpool beguiles, Liverpool bewilders. Swift’s superb analysis gets to the scarred heart of this troubled, beautiful and spirited city * Paul Du Noyer *
[Swift] has a terrific eye for the telling detail … You should read this book – Frank Cottrell-Boyce * Guardian *
Fascinating, funny and full of great stories - just like the city itself – Alywn Turner
Deftly blends a sweeping, multi-century history of the city’s rising and fading fortunes with the cultural vignettes of Beatlemania and Merseybeat, the figure of the “scally” and Liverpool’s “birds”, and the emergence of football casual culture which began on Anfield and Goodison Park’s terraces – Jonny Ball * New Statesman *
David Swift skilfully evokes the bright, raucous, lively, noisy city. I have no Liverpool ancestors myself, but reading this book made me hope that I might find some * Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine *
Spiky * UnHerd *
Written with the secure touch of a native Scouser looking out over the River Mersey. His extensive scholarship is lightened with quotes from people he has interviewed, personal anecdotes and wry asides – A. J. Lees * Literary Review *
From its soccer teams to the Beatles, David Swift explores how the city’s proud history has set it apart from the rest of England * Irish Independent *

About The Author

David Swift

David Swift is a historian and writer based in London who specialises on the history and contemporary politics of the British Left, in particular in relation to race, class, gender and popular culture. He has researched and taught at several universities in the UK and abroad. His first book, A Left for Itself, was released by the radical publisher Zero Books in 2019. Swift has written on the state of the Left for a variety of traditional and digital media including The Times, Independent, LabourList, Fabian Review, Progress Online, Spectator, Standpoint, Jewish Chronicle, UnHerd, and Critic.

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