The owners were bust and the mortgage bank in possession was bust – and that was the time for gut feeling and decisive action. Finally, explorations of medieval and modern Islamic sharia, Christian moral theology and Jewish halakhah all highlight how such traditions develop complex meta-rules – rules about rules – for managing the tensions and dilemmas that the use of rules can entail. In a forty-year career he has encountered a who’s who of Manchester personalities, from cultural icons such as Tony Wilson to Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and influential council leaders Sir Richard Leese and Sir Howard Bernstein.

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In his new book Manchester Unspun, Spinoza introduces us to the architects of the city’s transformation from “post-industrial malaise” to a thriving hub of music, culture and football. Hélène (now my wife) and I were mortified, the coop was furious, and it took weeks to undo the damage to our reputation with the city council.

Another notable clash of sensibilities occurs when the Haçienda hosts a 1996 seminar on situationism – the philosophical touchstone for the Factory way of doing things. We also use them to help detect unauthorized access or activity that violate our terms of service, as well as to analyze site traffic and performance for our own site improvement efforts.R eaders will enjoy the joyous mix of the author’s encounters with a who’s who of famous Mancunians, from Morrissey to Bernard Manning, Shaun Ryder to Sir Alex Ferguson, Frank Sidebottom to Andy Burnham, with walk-on parts from Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Anna Friel, Lemn Sissay, Caroline Aherne, Mick Hucknall and Jonathan Ross. Andy Spinoza has lived in Manchester since 1979, as a student, entrepreneur, publisher, journalist, gossip columnist and PR supremo. It is an insider's tale of deals done, government and corporate decision-making, nightclubs, music and entrepreneurs. Some years ago, when a national newspaper editor headed north to view the property boom that is transforming Manchester’s city centre and its skyline, Andrew Spinoza was entrusted with the job of tour guide.