Liverpool is a fabulous city, with a varied history: The Making of Liverpool highlights the significant changes that have made Liverpool what it is today. The story begins with King John's 1207 charter and the construction of Liverpool castle to protect this new town. Liverpool's development throughout the medieval period was slow, and even by the reigns of the Tudors and Stuarts, the town was still confined to the waterfront area. During the English Civil Wars. Liverpool endured three long and bloody sieges. Liverpool witnessed many changes during the Georgian period: embracing the transport revolution, it invested in river navigations and canals, constructed several docks, and later built the first passenger railway. By the nineteenth century Liveropool is a thriving port, with a very profitable maritime, through life within Victorian Liverpool is grim: poverty, poor housing, inadequate sanitation and disease are common, and it would take massive improvements to enhance the standard of living. Although Liverpool finds fame during the 'swinging sixties' the twentieth century brought misery, poverty, unemployment, two world wars and the Toxteth Riots. However, more recently Liverpool has had a resurgance: confidence has returnedto the city and , for the first time in years, Liverpool has a brighter future, as it looks forward to its 800th anniversary in 2007, and the investment and status that being the European Capital of Culture in 2008 will bring.