Once, Southampton was a medieval town borough and a thriving port. Now it is a glittering city, having risen like the proverbial phoenix from wartime ruins. Sadly the once great liner traffic did not rise again with it. Like the rest of Britain, Southampton had to find a new identity. This collection of photographs, enriched by Robert Cook's captions, charts the challenges and changes up to the present day, and a world in which there are no easy answers.