A civic square in downtown Manchester. (expedia)

Manchester has suffered a deadly blast delivered by Islamic extremists. Twenty-two have died and many others are injured. A five-minute video revealing the city’s many lovely classical buildings, set alas amid our era’s aggressive modernism, will not quell its horror and sadness. I had struggled with whether to post Manchester’s architecture, as I have come to do in the aftermath of these terrible events increasingly eviscerating cities around the globe. I would not want the reader to feel that I am equating the murder of innocents with ugly buildings. And yet it is a relationship explored by the evil Mohammad Atta. Terrorists resent the oppression represented by the global assault of the glass skyscraper, and all it represents, on indigenous cultures around the world. A perception of the need to address the relationship is far from an acceptance of the terrorists’ means of addressing it.

Be that as it may, I found a relatively gentle video tour of about seven minutes from Expedia, with a soft narration taking a pleasantly bland line on what has become of Manchester’s built manifestation of historical character. Those readers who watch “Manchester’s Vacation Travel Guide” join me in my condolences for the city’s citizens.

National Football Museum, in Manchester. (expedia)